Through These Lupine Eyes of Mine, 2k12 Season 1
by The Lupine Sojourner
Summary: Join Asami, fairly immature big sister/sort of mother figure for the turtles, as she experiences the rigors of a Adult Mutant Ninja in NYC. New mutants, aliens, and a rival ninja clan bent on the Hamato's destruction? Asami's life is certainly never dull! Asami/Leatherhead, Apritello, and Lupa/OC. Season 1, with bonus chapters. Taking Requests For Bonus Chapters.
1. Tale of Asami, prt 1

**SO! I AM JUST TWEAKING THE 2K12 VERSION OF ASAMI AND LUPA'S ORIGIN STORY, AND THEN GOING INTO THE CHAPTERS THAT PUT HER THROUGH THE EPISODES (ONE CHAPTER PER SINGLE EPISODE, SO** _ **RISE OF THE TURTLES**_ **AND ANY DOUBLE-LENGTH EPISODES WILL BE SPLIT INTO TWO CHAPTERS, KAY?), CUS I RE-READ IT, AND STILL LIKED IT! ANYWAY, THIS IS AN INTERESTING CHAPTER TO WRITE, AS I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FROM SPLINTER'S DIRECT POV BEFORE, SO DON'T SLAUGHTER ME WITH FLAMES, KAY? I'M REALLY BAD AT WRITTING SPLINTER, I KNOW. YOU DON'T NEED TO TELL ME. ;)**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER  
**

"Keep up, little one. We are almost to our last stop, and you can look around while I take care of my own shopping." I tell my daughter as she begins to lag behind me. I smile at her, and wait till she caught up, before picking her up into my arms, carrying her for the block or so that remains before we reach the Pet Store. She rubbed her eyes, letting out a small yawn; she had been walking for a longer period of time then she was used to, and it was just about her nap-time. She perked up immediately upon my entering the store. Soon enough, she wriggled out of my arms and ran off to the dog section while I went to look at the aquatics section. I wanted to look at some specific animals; turtles, for myself and my little girl, Asami. She was the first child Tang Shen and I had together, before my other daughter, Miwa, was born. Asami had been lucky, the night everything changed so completely for us. She had been in the orchard, where poor Tang Shen had so wisely told our daughter to run before the battle that so drastically changed my life ensued and everything went south. Asami had somehow known to come to my aid, trying to help me lift the beam that had fallen on me, nearly getting burned in the process before I was able to get us out of the flames. I am still haunted by the possibility of having lost my only remaining family to the flames Saki caused, only to remember that she was perfectly fine, though nightmares still came for us both. I had held her many nights now, soothing her night terrors and stilling her demons until she fell asleep, which in turn aided me in finding some purpose in my suddenly bleak life.

I shook my head clear of those memories as I browse. There was little use in reliving the past, especially not in this setting. I noticed a sign at the front of the store, leaning against a cage that contained four turtles. The sign was advertising free turtles with a purchase of fifty dollars or more. The store, I had been told by a sign attached to the outside window, was shutting down, and drastically dropped the prices on many animals to find as many of them a home as possible before they closed their doors. This was the perfect opportunity to purchase a pet, although I had only just started a job, and could only afford something very cheap. Suddenly, my daughter's hand is tugging my pants leg, interrupting my thoughts.

"Daddy, can you come and look at this puppy? It's only seventy-five dollars, and it's _so_ cute!" She giggled as I pretended to be lead over to the window that displayed the puppy she had told me about. It was a mix of wolf and German Shepard, as pure wolves were unruly and harder to handle. Beautiful, and relatively inexpensive. These people must be desperate. I could hardly imagine sending this innocent and adorable young dog to the pound to be killed. On another hand, food for the dog would only add about twenty dollars to the bill, and it was Asami's fifth birthday. She had been asking politely for pet for a while now, so I had told my daughter that, as long as she took care of it without my reminding her, I would get her a pet of her choice. I agreed now, no matter how much I may come to regret this decision later on. She squealed with delight and hugged my leg excitedly.

"Oh, I will Daddy. I will. Thank you so much!"

I went to the back, grabbed a bag of dog food, and returned to the front and told the cashier, Sarah, judging by the name tag she wore, that I wished to purchase the dog. She looked relieved as she rung up the food, and the dog.

"Are you interested in our little turtles here, sir? Since you spent at least fifty dollars, they can be yours, free of charge."

I contemplated. They would not require a lot of money, as I believe they came with the cage, and they ate lettuce, which I had plenty of, being a recently converted salad eater myself. Much of the food in America was so foreign I found it unappealing. As long as they came with a cage, I saw no harm in taking the little ones home with me. But I could not just take the cage without asking, so ask I did.

"I would like to, if I may take the cage, as well, miss."

"Oh, that's no problem. The turtles are yours. Good day, sir."

"Goody day to you, as well." I said as I left the store. We walked along for about two blocks before some man ran into me, nearly causing me to drop the bag of dog food I had in the crook of my elbow, leaning against my shoulder, and the container with the turtles I had in my hands. I turned, but the man was walking away, without apparently noticing his bumping into me.

 _ _That man almost felt...metallic. Wait...were his eyes...glowing? Or is that just my imagination?__

I followed the strange man to a random alley. There, another man that looks exactly like the first one was waiting. They were conversing in low tones, exchanging a canister of mysterious glowing ooze. This was too intriguing. I found myself drawn forward and unsettled all at once. Finding a few trash cans to hide Asami and her dog behind, I added a little extra shielding with the bag, knowing it most likely would not amount to much, and told Asami to stay where she was. I crept forward, forgetting the container of turtles in my hand. I was careless, too focused on the men, and mistakenly stepped on a rat, who scurried across my feet, brushing my leg as it did so. The men whirled on me, and started creeping forward.

"Go no further. This place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place. We have been seen in this place by you, so this place is not a place that will be left by you."

 _ _Odd manner of speaking. I wonder what makes them speak like that. However, if it is a fight they wish, I will give them one, at the very least to keep them away from—__

"Hey! Let me go! Help!"

I whirled around, panicking and tense, but there were other identical men blocking my view to where I had left my daughter. I closed my eyes, calming my mind. This would require all my concentration and focus. I honed my anger, harnessed it as a fuel that would be used sparingly, snapped my brown eyes open, sensing a movement from one of the men. He attempted to kick me, but I reacted faster than his kick, being an accomplished ninja (at least, I had thought so until Tang Shen's death and the fire. But I learned from my mistakes, or so I hoped...). Kicking the man in the stomach, I cleared a way for me to retrieve my daughter. Another man blocked the way, but I quickly punched him away, again striking the stomach, as it seemed to have some effect on them.

I saw Asami being held by the throat, and another man was opening the top to a mysterious container. I could tell that he meant to pour the liquid over my daughter's head. I hardly remember getting over there in my rage, kicking the man choking Asami out of the way, and catching her as she falls. The canister, however, landed on the ground, splashing over both of us before I could react. It felt as if it were acid against my skin. Immediately, I felt myself changing, morphing into something else. Nothing but pain, deep-rooted and more intense than I had ever felt before, registered.

Although the change expired in a matter of moments, it seemed so much longer. I looked around, but everything was out of focus. I could hear heavy panting, not my own. I felt for the figure I knew as my daughter. The feeling of fur greeted my hand when I reached her. I blinked a few times, partly out of shock, and my vision slowly cleared. My daughter, too, had changed. She was now more like a wolf, the very dog we had bought, as a matter of fact, but able to stand on her two legs, and she seemed to have retained her reason. I have yet to find out if she can still speak. She looks at me and I know that she remembers me as her father despite her terror and pain. I turn at the sound of running, and sirens, now so sharp in my ears, I cringe. Police are on their way. I see the men running down the alley, and into a van parked in the street. Within a minute, the van was gone. Now that the alley was mostly silent, another sound reached my ears; whimpering.

The whimpering of an infant. I looked to the source and saw that the four turtles I had just received were sitting in the ooze, looking like regular babies, except they had green skin, three fingers, and shells. I couldn't just leave them; who knows what would happen to them? Grabbing Asami, and setting her on her feet, I reach for the first turtle. This one had sapphire eyes, and emerald green colored skin. He whined at the contact, but I put him on my shoulder. Grabbing turtle two, this one with electric green eyes, and forest skin, I put him on my other shoulder. The two of them grab each of my ears, and I wince. The other two went on my hips. One had lime green skin, freckles across his face, and baby blue eyes. The other one had olive colored green skin, and a gap tooth in the front. I couldn't help a smile at the cute little kappa, sleepily cuddled against my skin. I saw the manhole cover off, and entered slowly. I wasn't even all the way down the short ladder when I remembered Asami's little dog. I think it had gotten hit with the ooze, but I couldn't be sure.

I reluctantly left the children at the bottom with strict instructions to Asami not to move, or let the others wander off. I saw the little puppy/child curled up in a ball, right where the men had been. It looked startlingly like Asami now did, except with more pronounced pointed teeth, and a less human-like presence in her face. I gently picked it up, and carried it down the ladder, stopping momentarily to put the cover back in it's place. The four turtles were cuddled against Asami, asleep. I gently put the wolf in my arms down, and picked up the kappa with sapphire eyes and emerald skin. He snuggled closer to my chest, seeking warmth. I re-positioned the turtle-children where they had previously been as I told Asami to either carry or lead her new sister and started walking down the sewer tunnel. This section looked abandoned, and judging by the stale, musty scent in the air, it had been that way for a long time. I followed the tunnels until they ceased at a, also abandoned, subway station. I saw that, with a little work, this could be a home. I started thinking of name's for all of my new children as I settled them in the central pit. I had recently taken on an effort to learn Western Culture and had taken great interest in the Italian Renaissance, and found some of the names interesting. The one with deep blue eyes crawled into my lap. He snuggled his head against my torn and tattered clothes, soon playing with the fur now encasing me. While his actions are uncomfortable for me, I gently lifted his head, and spoke softly, the name just coming to mind.

"Leonardo. You are Leonardo, little one." He seemed to grow bored with looking at me, so he scrambled out of my lap, and returned to his brothers and new sisters. Soon, the one with emerald eyes came over, and the name almost spoke itself. "Raphael." It just seemed to fit. He, too, went off to play, sometimes a little too roughly, causing a cry to come from one of the other children. Next was the one with red/brown eyes. Him, I named Donatello, because it, too, seemed to fit his intelligent gaze. That, and Donatello was one of my favorite artists. Finally, the one with freckles came over, and yawned as he squirmed into my lap. "Michelangelo." He seemed as wild and unique as his name, so I was satisfied.

Now, all that remains is to name my newest daughter, the wolf puppy. Italian artists' names didn't seem to fit, so I thought of different names for wolf. Okami...no. I wished to name her similarly to the turtles, and I eventually decided to name her after the goddess of the wolves, Lupa. I smiled. My children all have names now. I found myself increasingly attached to these six mutants. They were just as lonely as I was now. They needed me as much as I needed them. I felt so lost until the moment the ooze left me with six amazing, unique children. There was a small hallway with four bedrooms in the back (for the children as they grow older), and another one inside a large room, perfect for our family bedroom, as well as a dojo of sorts, and the smaller room would be my personal quarters once the children aren't needing so much attention, and concluded that this was, indeed, our new home. After all, there was no way I could continue living in my apartment. I would have to post it for sale online somehow. I growl under my breath, the sound harsh and almost feral to my sharper ears, at the injustice of my current situation.

I felt cheated. Just when I was getting my feet under myself again, rebuilding my life with my precious daughter...fate dealt me another blow. How could I recover from _this_?

Suddenly, my leg fur was tugged, halting my darkening thoughts, thankfully. I flinched slightly, unused to the feeling of fur being tugged, and looked down to find Asami rubbing her eyes, but wanting to talk to me. I crouched.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Asami?"

"Can we go home now?" It was a honest question, and I answered equally as honestly. There was no point softening the blow. My daughter had a keen mind, much like my beloved Tang Shen. Surely, she would eventually understand.

"I am sorry, but we have to live here now. If we do not, people will take me and you and your new siblings away. Do you understand, my child?"

"Hai, Daddy. I miss our home, though."

"As do I. Perhaps we can go get our things, and work together to make this place our home. Alright?"

"Deal, Daddy." she said, and yawned. It had hit her bedtime a few hours ago. I was surprised that she hadn't fallen asleep by now. I carried her out to the main room, to find all the others asleep. This was, perhaps, the best time to go get the things I had mentioned before, but Asami was already tired, and this could take a while. I should just leave her...however, she seemed eager to assist. Perhaps I could use the assistance...but no. In five minutes I had Asami fast asleep beside her new siblings. I slipped stealthily out of the subway station and soon stood near our apartment. I knelt down, leapt up, and started climbing the fire escape. I quickly opened the window, and manged to get in without sound. This new form had its advantages, it seems. The rat-like feet slipped silently over the carpeted floor of Asami's old room.

I left the bedroom, opened the closet, and retrieved one of the many duffel bags I had in a nearby closet (in case we needed to move quickly). I folded a few of her articles of clothing before I went to get what few things I needed. First, to my bedroom, where I discarded the tatters I currently wore and retrieved a hakama from my closet. Slipping it on, I felt a piece of humanity fall back into place. It was grounding, and I took a moment to let it seep in before returning to the mission at hand. If I were to train my children in Ninjitzu, which I intended to do, I would need all the weapons I could get. Soon, I had all of the things I required in duffel bags. Or at least, as much as I could carry. This would take awhile...

With that, I left through the same window I had come in by. Since I was carrying the four large duffel bags full of weapons, I found getting back into the sewers difficult, but somehow I managed it. I had memorized the route through the sewers, and was back in our new home within the hour. The six children were still fast asleep. I emptied out the bags in the soon-to-be Dojo. There was a tree, planted deep in a small square not tiled and it held promise of becoming a tall, strong source of wood in time, but I had no idea how it got there. I used the bags as makeshift beds for my new children. Soon, they were situated on the bags, and Asami, having woken up when I moved her sister, curled up and slept with me on my futon. The next morning, I fed the children some lettuce, and dog food (I had grabbed the bag after Asami was asleep for the second time), grimacing as I watched my own daughter chewing the pellets with relish. They all seemed to enjoy it, however, and soon they were satisfied. After that, Asami kept them busy while I went to scour the dumpsters around the Lair, as I had decided to call it.

I found many mattresses and other useful things in nearby dumps. Soon, I had five bedrooms set up, one or each of my sons, and one for the girls to share, until they got older. And a small refrigerator from my apartment. In fact, I soon stripped the place of anything useful in a matter of weeks. I know that people will spread rumors, as people always do, at my sudden disappearance, but it would be far worse if they knew what really happened. Soon enough, the small station started to look and feel like a home, like somewhere our odd little family could live in as much comfort as I could supply. Which, considering that I could only scavenge the dumpsters surrounding my new home, wasn't as bad as it could have been. There is truly much to be grateful for. I had to remember that, no matter how bleak the world may seem at times.

 **HOPE Y'ALL LIKED IT! THERE WILL BE MORE HAMATO FAMILY FLUFF NEXT CHAPTER OR TWO! THEN I'LL START THE EPISODES.**


	2. Tale of Asami, prt 2

**I PROMISED FLUFF, AND HERE IT IS! ENJOY!**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~LF221**

~At Age Seven~

 _ _The peacefulness of sleep was broken by the sound of a door, quietly opening. Curious, Asami got out of bed. She ducked behind her door when she saw the man, the one that her dad now hated, stalking toward her parent's room. Asami's heart was pounding so loud, she feared that the man in front of her could hear it. She had to warn her parents, but the man blocked her way. Thinking quickly for a five year old, she ran outside and around the house as fast as her legs would carry her, stopping at the window to the adults' room. Too late, she saw the man, standing at the head of the bed, ready to kill. Asami couldn't remain silent any longer. She screamed, louder and clear. Her father snapped awake, standing quickly to avoid the attack, as well as guard Asami's mother, and baby sister.__

" _ _I have come for what you stole from me, Yoshi." The man growled, sounding almost feral to the frightened five year old.__

" _ _I have stolen nothing of yours!" Asami's father snarled, standing between the man, and Asami's mother. Tang Shen was looking wildly around for her other daughter, inching along in the general direction that she had heard the scream come from.__

" _ _Asami! Asami, where are you?!" the woman cried, gazing around her in fear and terror as her daughter was still hidden from her sight. Asami climbed over the window, running over to her mother, fear powering the five year old girl's legs. The females remained in that corner as the sounds of terrible fighting rang out all around the room. The two men fought tooth and nail, until Yoshi dodged an attack, causing a candle to be cut in two. It fell to the floor, unheeding of Tang Shen's screams of alarm as the flames spread.__

" _ _Run! Get away from here, and don't come back!" Tang Shen yelled, and Asami obeyed, running out of the house as more and more of it was consumed. Asami stopped when she reached the orchard, too tired to go further. Then, the sound of screams was heard. Asami clutched her ears, wishing the dreadful sounds to go away. Then, horrid realization hit, and Asami sobbed harder than ever. What had happened? Surely her Daddy was strong enough to make the bad man go away, right? This couldn't be happening. It wasn't real, right? She'd wake up in a minute, right? Minutes stretched and warped until she could no longer tell if it had been hours or mere seconds as the flames continued to consume her house, and most likely all Asami held dear.__

" _ _Tou-san!" Asami screamed, over and over, watching the flamed spread over more of house, and somewhere in the back of her head, she knew that her father would probably not come out. But he did. He dove out onto the front lawn just as the roof collapsed. He was burned, and weakened due to smoke inhalation, but he was at least still alive.__

Asami sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at anything, but nothing but darkness was hurt by her attack. Then, she started crying, aching for her mother, for a life that was literally burned to the ground. Hamato Yoshi came over from his corner of the room, and cradled her.

"What is it, my child?" He asked.

"The-the house. It—it's gone! Kaa-san, too!" Asami whispered through her tears. Yoshi sighed. Every once and a while, nightmares of that night had haunted his daughter's dreams. And there was nothing he could do about it, but comfort her. Tang Shen was always the comforter, the one to still nightmares and chase demons away. And now she was gone...

"Sadly, yes. But the nightmare has passed, and remember, we have Lupa, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo now." He spoke gently, head resting on top of his daughter's. She sighed contentedly, remembering her amazing new siblings.

"Yeah...they're great." Asami said, the very ghost of a smile playing across her lips. Yoshi smiled, as well. Perhaps she was not as damaged as he had feared by the trauma he could not protect her from. That was heartening.

"Yes, they certainly are." Yoshi chuckled, rocking the pair back and forth without effort. "Now, how would you like to sleep with me tonight, and we'll go looking for food together tomorrow? All of us, alright?" Yoshi suggested. Asami perked up, and agreed. Then, the humanoid rat carried his daughter over to his own futon, and let her curl up and snuggle against his chest. He kissed the top of her head, she pecked his cheek.

"Oyasumi, little one."

"Oyasmui, tou-san."

~At Age Ten~

 ** **SNIP****

Asami maneuvered the scissors, following the chalk lines she had drawn on her brothers' and sister's baby blankets. Her siblings were fast asleep in their rooms, totally clueless as to what she was doing, here in a small secret compartment she had discovered a week earlier.

 ** **SNIP****

Another snip, and she was done. She held up the strip of fabric, and examined her handiwork. She had perfect eye-holes, carefully sliced into the soft emerald green fabric. Satisfied, she put it in the middle of a small sheet of rice paper left over from making doors to her father's private quarters and wrapped it carefully. Setting it aside, she picked up the next sheet, this one a lovely shade of orange.

 ** **SNIP****

She was tired, and her hands hurt, but she had to get these done before her siblings woke up. She knew that there was little chance of the six of them getting many presents, so she might as well give them something to remember their childhood, but also be cool. Her hand trembled as she moved the scissors across the fabric.

 _ _There. Mikey's is done.__

She had had to make the tails a little shorter than normal, because he had the smallest blanket. And he chewed on the edges of it as a way to release bored energy. Next, a chalk lined sheet of a beautiful violet color. This one was a bit longer than the others. Simply because Donnie was the tallest of the turtles.

 ** **SNIP, SNIP, SNIP****

Faster now, the scissors flew. It was nearing the time she would wake her siblings, and try to get them to sit still long enough to eat something before going to their lessons with their dad.

 _ _Two more to go. Just two more.__

Asami thought hopefully, massaging her sore hand. With a soft, yet somehow heavy sigh, she picked up the scarlet sheet next. This one had been through a lot, and the edges were tattered. She whimpered as the scissors pressed against her agitated skin once again.

 ** **SNIP, SNIP, SNIP****

She now resorted to sucking the hurting area to try to relieve the skin somewhat. Scowling, she quickly wrapped the mask as skillfully as her speed allowed. Thankfully, there was a little variety in the rice paper, so she would be able to tell the differences between them enough to give each of her siblings the right masks. Splinter had made her blanket a mask some time ago, and told her this, but wanted to present her with it at the same time as his sons, and Lupa. So that they wouldn't be jealous, or feel left out. Now, all that remained was Leo's light-ish blue blanket. It was in good condition, and would make an awesome hero's mask. Like that Captain Ryan guy Leo loves now. He had just discovered the lamely animated and poorly scripted show called __Space Heroes__ a few weeks before. Although she personally didn't care for it, Asami enjoyed watching her little brother enjoy it, so she was able to tolerate it.

 _ _He's so cute when he watches that dumb show. I honestly do not see the attraction, but he likes it, so who am I to judge him for his tastes in entertainment? Okay, I officially hate these scissors now. I really do.__ Asami's happy thought turned bitter as she punished her hand further with the too small scissors. _Ah, the things we do for family..._ Asami mused.

 ** **SNIP, SNIP, SNIP****

A sense of elation filled Asami as she wrapped the last mask in the last of the rice paper. That, and the joy of being able to hid this from even Splinter. He, too, had no idea what she was planning, to her knowledge. Taking a pen, she wrote **_**HAPPY MUTATION DAY, DUDES!**_** On all of the little packages, and carefully carried them out to the living room closet, where she put them where she knew little eyes wouldn't be able to see them before she wanted them to. Turning, she went to the kitchen, soaking her hand in cold water for a few moments before filling a pot with water, and setting it on the stove to boil. She was gonna do everything for breakfast today, and be sure to make all of her family know how much she loved them. In no time, she had a pot of oatmeal on for her, Lupa, and her dad, and a smaller pot of tea as well as a pan of algae and worms, for the turtles.

 _ _I do not understand how they can eat that stuff, but they seem to enjoy it, so whatever. More for them, I suppose.__

She shrugged, and had to quickly move the teapot off the stove as it was threatening to boil over. She sprinkled in the proper amount of tea leaves into the heavily steaming water. She put the lid back on, and stirred the oatmeal and algae. She took down the seven bowls and plates they they had, and set them around the table as quietly as possible. She set out the spoons, and a pair of chopsticks, as well. She collapsed into her usual chair wearily, and let her eye droop, just a little, for a few moments, before forcing them open. She got up, and stirred the oatmeal again, adding a little salt to the mix.

 _ _Now...to wake the dead. Lu-lu first. Hehehehe.__

Asami thought as she crept over to her shared room. She crept up silently to her sister's bed, and pulled out a feather from her mattress. She very gently swept it across her sister's nose. It crinkled, and then all was still. Another swipe, another crinkle. Her sister's eyes slowly crept open, and Asami swiped the feather once more over Lupa's nose. Her eyes suddenly flew open, and Lupa jumped off the bed, scratching furiously at her nose.

"Not funny, sissy!" Asami was almost rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Yes-yes it is. It's hilarious. Absolute hilarity." She spoke through fits of giggles that quickly dissolved into unbridled laughter. Lupa then pushed her sister off the bed. Asami was a pile of limbs and blankets, as she had grabbed the sheets when she fell. The commotion brought the others to the bedroom.

"Hey, loudmouths! Some of us actually need some sleep! Try to keep it down, will ya?!" Raph said, eyes bloodshot from being suddenly awakened.

"What's goin' on, guys? Did I miss something?" Mikey said that, his own sheets looking like a wacky toga/cape mix.

"What happened, Ami?" Leo asked, rubbing his eyes, but looking ready for the day.

"Is anyone hurt?" Donnie asked, looking the readiest of all them.

"N-no guys. It's fine. I just gave Lu-lu a nose itch, that's all. Anyway, time for breakfast. Brush your teeth, then come out to eat." She said, finally standing up, and ushering her sister into the bathroom. The turtle filed away to do their allotted tasks. After securing a agreement to be out in about two minutes, she left to get bowls served for the guys. Within five minutes, they were all sitting at the table, eating their oatmeal calmly. Soon, Splinter emerged from the bathroom, served his own food, and sat down to eat.

"What was all the noise about this morning, children?"

"Oh, I just waved a feather over Lupa's nose, giving her an itch. Sorry if that disturbed you, dad." Asami replied, a smirk on her face. Splinter's face, too, seemed to soften a little at this.

"As long as no one was hurt, I have no issue with your methods of awakening your sister. Now, as today is special, I have no lessons planned for today. However, you will listen to Asami for as long as is necessary when you all go dumpster scavenging later on." This news brought on a wave of excitement from all children at the table. It was a rare and treasured occasion when all six mutant children went scavenging together. As soon as the bowls were emptied, the younger five mutants scurried off, but came back within a minute, each holding something behind their shells, or backs for Lupa. Asami smiled brightly.

"What's all this?"

"PRESENTS!" The other five mutants giggled helplessly, each crowding around their sister.

"Alright, guys. Form a line. Oldest to youngest. No cutting, either, Mikey!" Asami ordered. They all did as instructed, and Leo gave her a small bag. Where he got it, Asami's guess was as good as yours. She reached in, and pulled out...her mask that Splinter had made. She glanced at Splinter, who nodded, confirming her suspicions that either Leo had asked to be the one to give it to Asami, or Splinter had told him to. Either way, she hugged her brother, and quickly planted a kiss on his forehead. Leo blushed a deep red as he stepped out of the line. She smiled.

 _ _He is so cute when he blushes like that...adorable. Whoa...pull it together, Asami__

"Thank you, Leo. I love it!"

Raph come over. He handed her a hand drawn card. It was a picture of all of them, holding hands, smiling as they walked down what Asami assumed was supposed to be a tunnel. He had written a short poem underneath.

 _ _Roses are red,__

 _ _violets are blue,__

 _ _you're ten years old,__

 _ _and I love you.__

 _ _Happy Mutation Day, sis.__

Asami hugged her brother. She knew that this had taken a long time for him to make, and even longer to write the little poem.

"I...I don't know what to say, Raphael...Thank you!" She said, planting a kiss on his forehead as he stepped aside. He blushed, stammered, and hurriedly rubbed it off. Donnie handed her a small iPod, complete with headphones.

"Oh, my gosh! Where did you get this, Donnie?! I love it!"

"I found it when we were dump diving a while ago. It took a long time to find the right headphones for you, though." He said, sounding embarrassed, but looking extremely happy. She hugged and kissed him, too, as he stood alongside his brothers. Mikey came up, and, with a flourish, gave her a picture that he had drawn himself. It showed her and Mikey, in superhero costumes, fighting off some bad guy of Mikey's wild imagination. She was in a white suite and a cape, while Mikey looked more like Batman, but without the ears. The suit was dark red/orange, and he had a shield on one arm. There were lasers coming from their eyes, and hitting the bad guy, who had a really funny expression on his face. They both had hands on hips. Under the picture, he had written __The crime fighting duo of the century;__

 _ _Turtle Titan, and Wolfzilla!__

 _ _Love ya sis. Happy M-day!__

She hugged her littlest brother tightly, and whispered in his ear.

"I'd love to be Wolfzilla, if you'll be there, Turtle Titan."

"Alright!" Mikey shouted, right in his sister's ear.

"Easy there, tiger! I think there's someone else who wants to give me something. Scoot along now!" She said, gently scooting him in the right direction. Lupa huffed, but soon was smiling as she held out a framed picture.

 _ _It was all of them at their third Mutation day. The little ones all had algae cake covering their faces, and Asami was laughing as she tried to get Lupa to stay still long enough to clean off her face. Raph and Mikey were painting each other's faces with the blue/green algae. Donnie, after painting himself, decided to paint his tray.__

The frame itself was light pink, with small red wooden hearts on all corners. It was amazing, and the perfect gift.

"I couldn't make a card in time, but I hope that this is just as good, sissy. Happy Mutation Day!" She said, as she hugged her sister, nearly tackling Asami off the chair she sat on. Lupa almost choked Asami with how tight her grip was around her neck.

"I love it, Lu-lu! It will on my bedside table, so that it will be the first thing I see when I wake up, okay?"

"Okay, sissy." She started to run off, but Asami reached forward, and scooped her up, tickling her sister mercilessly as she walked out to the pit. Her brothers were all discussing how they had gotten their gifts ready, and speculating as to what they would receive. Asami put Lupa next to Mikey, and straightened up, putting on her 'commander Asami' expression (really, it was just an impression of Splinter), hands on hips, and back ramrod straight. For some reason, the boys found it amusing when Asami did it, but terrifying when Splinter did it.

"Alright. Your orders are to form one line on the rim of the pit, and stay like that till I come back. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The five little 'cadets' replied, giggling as they formed that line. Asami ran quickly and got the packages she had hidden earlier that morning. She resumed her 'commander' posture, and spoke in the same voice when she got back.

"Now, close your eyes until I say otherwise." They obeyed, still giggling. She quietly placed each package in her siblings' waiting laps.

"Open your eyes, and look in your laps, cadets!" She barked, and she was greeted by shouts of "Awesome!", "Whoa!", "This is so cool!", "How did she find these? They look just like our old baby blankets!", and "How do we put these on?" Asami laughed, but pulled herself together and 'ordered' that they sit perfectly still, and give her their masks, so she could put them on. She went down the line, tying all their masks on, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when she found they fit her siblings as she had hoped. They all ran into the bathroom, to look at their masks on their faces. She could hear the elation, as well as smell it, from here. That smell reminded her of all things lovely in the world, of her brothers' laughter; Lupa's, too, obviously. That was something only Asami could do. She had a rare gift; being able to smell pheromones. It made her something of an empath. And somewhat of a stranger in her own house. Lupa didn't seem to be able to smell all that her sister did, and it made her feel...even more a freak than her mutant sister. She loved being able to connect to her family this way, and the fact that she would be able to more effectively comfort and talk to her siblings, but it also made her feel like an intruder. She had discussed her ability with her father, and he had assured her that it made her no more a freak than she was already, but still...it bothered her sometimes.

~At Age 13~

Asami lay in bed, coughing out a lung, and sneezing up a storm. Donnie had warned her about wandering the tunnels and dumpster diving in winter weather for too long, but Asami had forgotten bout that and had gone and gotten the flu. A nasty one, too. She had been on bed-arrest for two whole days now, and was hating every second of it. A soft knock at the door snapped her out of her angry thoughts.

"Yeah? Come in!" She called, not waiting to receive an answer to her question. Leo poked his head in, and then the rest of him followed. He was carrying a tray, with a bowl of soup, a cracker or two, and a glass of water.

"How ya feelin', sis?" He asked, trying not to sound too depressed at the amount of snotty rags around his sister's body, and on the floor. She was reading a magazine that she had asked for, but now found boring. He set the tray on Asami's lap, reaching for the medicine bottle that lay on the bedside table.

"Good. A bit better than this morning, actually." She replied, trying not to let her voice rasp too much because of the sore throat she had. Leo smiled.

"Good! We really don't need any more puke in the pit." He said, meaning it to be funny, but instead, Asami looked down at her hands guiltily.

"'Sorry, bro. I didn' mean tah-ah-ACHOO!" She sneezed, grabbing a tissue and blowing her nose, tossing it onto the floor, and leaning back with a sigh.

"It's okay, sis. I know you didn't. I meant it to be a joke." Leo explained. He inched the tray forward, and Asami took it, and the pills in Leo's hand, held out for her. Taking the spoon, she ate a little of the soup. Then, she took the glass of water, and swallowed the medicine that helped her body fight the virus.

"Let me know if you need anything else." Leo called, walking out of the room. Asami left her room, as well, curious as to what was going on outside. She was wrapped in a blanket from behind.

"Ami, you really should be resting." came the voice of Donatello, the young medically gifted turtle.

"Donnie, I _have_ been resting. For _two whole freaking days_!" Ami said, before continuing out to the pit. She snuggled further into the blanket as she sat down in the couch cushions. Leonardo was watching Space heroes again, but Asami didn't care. Then, the tray with the rest of Asami's soup was above her head, being lowered slowly.

"Boop, boop, boop! Look out, coming through! Food withdrawal patient in need of medication!" Mikey yelled, and Asami straightened her legs. The tray was delivered, and Asami ate while Leo stayed absorbed in the show. When she was done, the tray was lifted, and taken to the sink by Donnie, and cleaned. Asami shivered uncontrollably. The blanket wasn't cutting it.

"Hey, Leo?" Leo turned from the TV instantly.

"Yeah, Ami?"

"Can we snuggle? I'm still feeling cold." She asked, opening the blanket. Leo scooted over, and the blanket closed around the pair. After about two episodes, Asami couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She slipped into a deep, and restful sleep.

When Donnie came back in with more medication, he found Leo and Asami cuddling and Asami asleep, her head flopped down against Leo's, and held back any sharp orders that were about to be given regarding Asami's treatment. He smiled at the sight of the two, and left to get dinner ready with Mikey, still smiling and softly chuckling to himself.

~At age 15~

Asami sighed. She should have been excited. She should have been begging her father to let her go _now_ , but she couldn't. She felt terrible. This was the one thing that she was told to do without her siblings. At all. They couldn't go with her. She pulled her mask tighter before tying it off quickly. She adjusted her belts, and clipped her tomahawks and ninjaken to it. Those were the weapons she had chosen. She had been offered the family heirloom tessen, but simply couldn't accept it. She somehow knew it wasn't for her. Besides, she'd had her eyes set on the tomahawks, and when Splinter had her pick out a second weapon, she decided that the ninjaken would be a great fall-back weapon. These weapons spoke to her, seeming suited to her more than anything else. Lupa, being another of Splinter's daughter's, was also offered the metal fan, but she, too, denied it. She also felt it would not be appropriate to use a weapon meant for the eldest of the Hamato daughters. Instead, Lupa chose the double scythe, much to her father's dislike. As a secondary weapon, she chose the nunchuck. Anyway, Asami crept out to the pit, sitting down on the edge as a new episode of __Space Heroes__ came on. She wasn't really watching it. She was more gloomily passing the time until she could go topside for the first time in her life. She had been discretely begging for this chance for the past few years, never imagining doing it without her siblings. In her mind, they were all going together, all of them, like it always is. As soon as she had figured out that everyone younger than her wasn't leaving the Lair, she freaked out. Inside, of course. Not in front of Splinter.

 _ _She was still in Splinter's room. She simply looked down at the floor, unable to process exactly what was happening.__

" _ _My child, do you understand?" Splinter asked, his hand on Asami's slightly shaking shoulder.__

" _ _N-not really, father. Why can't at least Leo come along with me? You said yourself how far he's come in his training. Please, dad." Asami asked, tears brimming in her eyes. She simply couldn't understand why her brothers and Lupa couldn't go with her. Splinter gently gripped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.__

" _ _Asami, you know that they still have much to learn. Too much for me to feel comfortable letting them go with you."__

" _ _But dad, so do I. I know I do. Please..." She trailed off when she saw the resolute look in her dad's eyes. There wasn't any sign of Splinter letting the boys or Lupa out of his sight. She sighed as Splinter released her chin.__

" _ _They will go up, just not this year. Maybe not for a few more years. It's for the best Asami..."__

Asami absently checked the time, and found it was time. Asami hated time sometimes. It flowed fast when you want slow, and slow when you want fast. Like when you really want time to speed up so you can do whatever, it goes so slow, an hour feels like an eternity. Then, like when you want time to slow down, so you can postpone a lecture, it simply speeds up. Time was nuts.

Anyway, she headed to the door. Suddenly, a strong hand was gripping her shoulder.

"My child, be safe. Stick to the shadows, and remain unseen. The topside world will be strange and otherwordly to you. Do not allow yourself to do things you would not ordinarily do."

"Hai, Sensei." Asami said, and started for the door again, but the grip was still there.

"Do not go anywhere near a human, no matter the circumstance."

"Hai, Sensei." Asami repeated. This was getting old, and Asami just wanted to get out and back ASAP.

"Be on full alert the entire time, and do not be caught by surprise."

"Dad! I'll be fine! Don't worry." She said, and the grip loosened. She stood a little on tiptoes, and pecked her father on the cheek.

"Make sure you look both ways before crossing the street!" Splinter called, but Asami was already on her way to explore the vast unknown of NYC, heedless of Splinter's words. She was at the ladder before she knew it. She mused that this had been as far as she had ever gone before. Beyond that ladder was the farthest she had ever been from the Lair before now, besides scavenger trips, which didn't really count. She looked up into the tunnel that would let her out into...a whole other world, it would seem. And she had to climb it alone. No brothers or Lupa to be there with her this time. She was alone for the first time in her life. Soon, she was braced against the wall of the tunnel, pushing against the cover. It made a weird metal-on-metal grating sound.

"Hey, you up there?"

Asami froze. She was supposed to be alone here. What was Leo doing here?

"Yeah?"

"Um, I just wanted to...wish you luck."

"Thanks, Leo."

"Wish I was coming."

"I know. I tried to convince Splinter to let at least you go with me, but he wouldn't budge."

"Yeah. He can be really stubborn sometimes. Anyway, good luck up there, okay? I don't want to lose you."

"Oh, Leo, you won't. I promise." Asami said, jumping down, and hugging her brother. He was shaking slightly. Without looking at him, she knew he was crying. She gently drew his chin up, and kissed his forehead.

"I'll be fine, Leo. I am a Kunoichi-in-training, remember?"

"Yeah, it's just...when will you be back, sissy?"

"Later. I'm not sure when, alright? Just promise me one thing."

"What?" Leo asked, looking up at her with the widest eyes she had ever seen.

"That you will get everyone to bed on time. I really don't want all of you up when I get back, okay?"

"...I'll see what I can do, Asami."

 _ _Your gonna do great things, kid. Really big things for us. Huh. Leonardo, leader at age 10. Who'd a thunk it?__

Asami thinks with a smile as she enters the dead end street above the manhole cover. She gazes around her in awe and wonder, staying in the shadows, of course. Asami snaps a picture of the wall, which has some cool paintings on it. She then goes up to the rooftops, and runs and runs. Before she starts, Asami turns on a GPS feature Don added to her T-phone recently. He'll add it to all of their phones when they get to come up here, she's sure though. Asami stops her run, having nowhere near enough to jump to handy. She looked around, and found a young human boy, riding a strange vehicle, carrying some weird boxes. Intrigued, she brought out a grappling hook attached to a rope. Grappling the opposite street's rooftops, she swung out, and snatched a box before the boy realized what was happening. She reached the other rooftop without incident, and cautiously opened the box. Inside was some kind of yellow goo on a weird dough disk, topped with red circles, and brown balls. She reached out, and grabbed a triangle of the strange food. As soon as it was in her mouth, she discovered a whole other world of flavors. This was new to her because her diet was mainly restricted to whatever she could find in a dumpster, as opposed to eating algae and worms all the time, as the turtles did. She despised that stuff. Asami had taken a picture of the undisturbed food, wanting as many memories as possible from this excursion. She closed the box, and read the word's "Antonio's Pizzeria." on the cover. She was confused.

"Pizzeria? I mean, Splinter said it would be strange here, but man...humans have weird names for stuff." Thinking quickly, she looked up the word on the dictionary she had installed on her phone to provide clarity to whatever new words she heard up here. She found that a Pizzeria was actually a store that sold the food she had eaten. Pizza, to give it it's proper name. Now that she knew, she felt like an idiot. She continued her run after checking the time, and found that she should only run a little more before she would have to return. She knew that Leonardo wouldn't be able to sleep without everyone there, like a parent. It was adorable to her, but it had it's annoyances.

 _ _He can be so overprotective sometimes, but I know he means well, so I just kinda...let it go, I guess. He's so cute when he's like that. All heroic, like Captain Ryan, who he is modeling himself after anyway. He'll be a great leader one day. I will be happy to follow him anywhere, anytime.__

Asami smiled as she turned around when she again ran out of near enough roofs. Just as she did, she heard the alarm go off in the store across the street. She froze. What was she to do?!

 _ _Surely, the authorities could handle it, but they wouldn't get here in time...oh, man! What do I do?! I can't walk in there, and take care of the perpetrators, but I can't just walk away!__

Thinking quickly, she jumped down the fire escape, and drew herself into the shadows. There was only one figure inside, and he appeared to be in some kind of costume. Entering the store through the shadows, she drew her flashlight, and turned it on.

"Curse those weird guys! All I wanted was to go about living normally, but NO! They just HAD to kidnap me, and freeze me for fifty years, and then change me! Curse life!"

At the same time that she turned the light on, she spoke.

"Don't curse your life. There's too much to be grateful for to curse it. That's what my father always told me."

The figure flinched, drawing an arm up to protect it's face from the sudden light. Asami screamed, dropping the flashlight in her fright, just now getting a close look at the figure that had stumbled into this store.

~Back at the Lair~

Leo shifted on the couch, undecided as to what to do. Should he go to bed, like his brothers and Lupa, or should he wait for Asami to come back? He had already sent his siblings off to bed a few hours ago, keeping his promise. He held back worried tears as he rocked back and forth on the edge of the pit. He simply couldn't understand what to do. This was the first time that he was alone, without Asami, in his life. He knew he should go to bed, that Asami was older than him and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but that didn't stop him from worrying. But still, it was stupid and childish, so Leo wiped his eyes, and took deep breaths to steady himself. He needed to be strong; for his brothers, and for his sisters.

"Leo?"

Leo turned his head, and saw Mikey's little shaking form. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily, standing at the end of the hallway. Leo stood up, and help up his arms to welcome his baby brother into his arms. Mikey ran into his arms, sobbing quietly.

"What's wrong, Mikey?"

"I-it was awful!" Mikey yell-whispered, burying his face in Leo's plastron.

"What happened, Mikey?" Leo asked, knowing that Mikey had had a nightmare.

"I was running, and running through a tunnel. I heard creepy laughter. Then this creepy guy with glowing red eyes in spiky armor just appeared out of nowhere, and he...was holding Asami and Lupa's body in one hand, and you, Donnie, and Raphie's bodies in his other hand!" Mikey finished, now clutching Leo's arm like he would never let go. "I couldn't do anything about it! It was so freaky!" Mikey said, not bothering to whisper any more. The pair stayed like that for a long time, just rocking back and forth smoothly on the edge of the pit.

~Back in the store, in Asami's PoV~

I stumbled backwards, unable to comprehend what I had seen in that brief moment before I dropped the flashlight.

 _ _Unless Splinter looked way different as a human than normal humans do, this...is another mutant!__

I thought as the young man started stumbling around. I heard crashing around, and reached out when I heard him come near. I caught hold of his rough, reptilian skin, and it took all of my willpower not to let go, and wipe my hand on my shirt.

"Whoa, there, kid. You'll hurt yourself." I hissed, using my other hand to search the ground for my discarded flashlight. I quickly found it, and flicked it on. Shining it just below the boy's eyes, so as not to hurt him, I was able to get a good look at him. He had a reptilian head with spikes coming off the back in a way that reminded me of a mohawk, scaly, ungainly hands not unlike the guys', which is probably what caused the noise that tripped the alarm. He blinked at the light, and tried to free himself from my grip on his arm.

"I'm sorry, miss, if a miss you truly be! Please don't hurt me! I didn't mean none of this! I just stumbled in here, and accidentally broke something, tripping the alarm!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not gonna hurt you! I'm sorry if I scared you, but you need to calm down, and..." I trailed off as I heard a noise that Splinter called sirens approaching fast. I turned back to the dragon boy. "Listen, you need to come with me, now! I got to get you outta here before the police get here." I explained, dragging him behind me. I went out the back door, and found a manhole cover in the middle of the alley in front of me. I led the odd boy over to it, quickly drew it off, and brought the kid over to it, indicating that he should go down. He instantly drew back.

"No, please! I don't want to go down there, miss! It's nasty!"

"Oh, come on! It's where I live, and I don't know where else to hide you, so come on!" I said, getting frustrated already with this kid. He crossed his arms, like a little child.

"I am not going down there, and you can't make me!" He said defiantly. I smirked, raising an eyebrow as I reached over and grabbed his wrist. I dragged him up and over my shoulder, and held him there as I jumped down the manhole.

"WHHOOAA! Please, miss! Put me down! I think I'm gonna hurl, but I can't tell if it's because of the smell down here, or the position I'm in!" He yelled, and I huffed as I dropped him on his rear on the ground of the tunnel.

"Now you know better than to fool around with me, huh?" I tease, and he scowls at me.

"Yes, miss." He asks, dropping the scowl, thankfully. It was a little intimidating.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight here. My name isn't miss. That's what you call a young woman, like, fifty years ago. Anyway, my name is Asami, but you can just call me Ami. My siblings do, anyway. What's yours?" I ask, helping him up.

"Dao. And last I remember, it was 1960."

"So, it was fifty years ago exactly that you were taken." I mused, as I turned and walked down the tunnel. He followed, half stumbling, half walking right beside me.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

"To my house. I'll ask my dad if you can stay with us. We'll figure it out from there." I said.

"Really? And what makes you so sure he's gonna let me in? I mean, he could just not."

"Oh, he won't. He doesn't do that kinda thing. He's a great man, and so are my brothers. And my sister." I tell him. He frowns.

"How many siblings do you have, Asami?" he asks, looking at me incredulously.

"Five. A sister, and four brothers."

"Cool! I'm an only child myself. Or, I was. Um, are they like you, or just, ah, not very easily imitated?" Dao asks, and I can't contain chuckles at the question.

"No, they're just as special as I am. My sister, Lupa, could be my twin, if she wasn't five years younger than me. And my brothers, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, are turtles." I explain, sloshing through the sewer waters. In no time, we were at the turnstiles, and I saw lit candles on the table, illuminating the room enough to allow easy navigation. Dao came in not two seconds after me, and I took a quick glance around for any surprise attacks, but didn't see one imminent.

"Here we are, Dao. You can just-Uh!" I was cut off before I could finish by a tackle from behind. Mikey, obviously. I smiled as I threw him off. He hit the ground on his shell, but didn't look that hurt.

"Asami!" Dao cried, and there was a WHOOSH, followed by SHINKT, the sound of water freezing! I turn, to find Mikey, half standing, arms up to protect himself, frozen!

 **HERE Y'ALL GO! FLUFFY ENOUGH FOR YAH? HOPE SO! THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST ONE BEFORE THE EPISODES START. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS!**


	3. Tale of Asami, prt 3 (final)

**HERE IS THE CONCLUSION TO THE PROLOGUE TO THE EPISODES. I HOPE YOU GUYS FIND THE TURTLES IN CHARACTER. I DO TRY AND KEEP THEM IN CHARACTER TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. LET ME KNOW HOW I DID, KAY?**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER**

"Dao!" I screeched. Dao looked horrified at himself, and I started to panic. Mikey was frozen. _Mikey_ was...frozen. Mikey...was _frozen_. The thought replayed in my head, over and over. Suddenly, the others were in the room, and as frozen as Mikey in their shock. I tried to get control of myself, but it was very difficult when my brother was a block of ice on the Lair's floor. Before I knew what was happening, I was behind a shell. Leo. Raph was already fighting Dao, who could hardly even raise a hand, much less actually defend himself from Raph's rage. Leo, comparatively, was a bit less aggressive than Raph normally, but now that one of his brothers was frozen, maybe gone...anyone would turn homicidal. I grabbed Leo's shell anyway. It was worth a shot before I had to fight my family for my friend. I didn't want to do that, but I definitely would if need be.

"Wait, Leo! He's...he's a friend. It was an accident. Please, just trust me. He didn't mean to do it!" I pleaded, and I saw that Leo was still very distrustful, but he at least still trusted me enough to help me stall Raph and Lupa murdering this poor kid. Breiefly, I wondered where Lupa came from, even as I pulled her back. I was grateful that Leo could trust my sense of pheromones and emotions as I pulled Raph off Dao and helped the poor kid up. Raph growled.

"Asami, _what_ are you _doing_?" He demanded but Leo still managed to restrain Raph's near charge to my defense. "Get. Away. From. Him." Even when 'he' was a potential enemy with unknown intent, even with all the justifiable strikes against my new friend, none of us would ever refer to someone so similar to us as 'it'. We knew better. Lupa was shell-shocked.

"Get back here, sis!" She hissed, apparently coming out of her shock enough to talk. Her eyes and body language was akin to those of a frightened animal.

"He's _not_ an enemy, guys! He's a friend. It was just an accident." I pleaded, arms out protectively.

"One I can reverse." Don mumbled, looking at Mikey critically. He had joined the fray almost as soon as Raph and Leo started it, but seemed too distracted by Mikey to really do anything, and stopped to closely examine the turtle in ice quickly. Dao sighed in relief, then flinched when every turtle eye turned an icy glare toward him, so fiercely, their third eyelid came down, giving off the intimidating white-eyed appearance. "Asami, get the hot water going in the tub. We'll need it completely full." Don said, now watching the new mutants' every move.

"What is going on out here?" came Sensei's voice almost as soon as I had taken the first step toward the bathroom. I flinched. Here we go... "Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?!"

"Sensei...I met a friend on my patrol, and...well...it appears he has ice powers. But it's not a problem for Don to reverse." I said hurriedly, as I was walking toward the bathroom and turned the water on to hot. Splinter frowned, following me.

"You trust him?"

"Hai, Sensei. I could smell his fear, as well as everyone else's. He was just as shocked as everyone when that ice encased Mikey. He didn't mean to." I _had_ to believe that. He was _genuinely_ terrified, though if that was due to his turtle guards or the fact that he had just frozen somebody, it was hard to tell.

"I see. Well, it seems you're gift is useful in this instance." Dad mused, still terse at being awoken so late at night. I sighed. I sometimes still found myself hating my 'gift'. And then there was times like this that it wasn't so bad. It _does_ allow me to know almost as soon as I meet you if you are lying or not. "But I hope you remain vigilant, all the same." I hummed. He was probably right.

"I will, Sensei. Mikey needs to get in here ASAP, so..." With that, I left the room. "Don! The water's ready!" I called, and then hurried out to grab Mikey and help get him to the bathroom. He was so cold...would the water even work? Would Mikey ever be completely thawed again?

"We should probably leave the water running and the drain up a tad, to keep the water hot." Don mused. He looked the way I felt; trying to rationalize why he shouldn't feel too hopeless and depressed with the 'what if?'s in this scenario.

"Great idea, Don." I said, smiling at him. "Think this'll do the trick?" I asked, not overly concerned anymore. I knew if Don was on the case, everything would be okay...right?

"If this doesn't work, we always have the heating lamp." He said casually with a shrug. I nodded. Yes, that would work.

"Oh. Good point." We watched poor Mikey look less and less pale the longer he stayed in the water. It was nerve-wracking. Sitting here waiting...

"I swear, if this don't work, Don, I'm pummeling that punk so hard into the floor, he won't remember what it was like _before_ he was in pain!" Raph growled, standing in the doorway. Don sighed.

"It will, Raph. It _will_. Mikey will be perfectly _fine_." Don sounded almost like he was reassuring himself, not just Raph, who stalked away, growling. I sighed. Raph was being tough for his family, but I knew he was feeling just as scared and hopeless as the rest of us, if not more so.

"I'll talk to him, get him to calm down. Be right back."

"Alright. Your funeral." Don replied, never taking his eyes off Mikey. I came out to find Raph staring into space on the rim of the pit. He was subtly rocking himself, arms holding his legs to his chest. I felt a tug at my heart, and was seated next him in an instant. His shoulders were shaking and the smell of depression was thick. I swallowed. Raph started slightly.

"Hey." I said, smiling half-heartedly. I wrapped an arm around him.

"If that sicko actually killed Mikey..." He said, voice shaky and yet angry. His head leaned against my shoulder. This was something I shared with every one of my siblings, this mutual respect and trust. Nothing of this conversation would ever leave our mouths again. But the affect would be the same. I never wanted to lose that.

"He didn't. Don knows what he's talking about. Mikey'll be fine." I promised, though, like Raph, the horrid dread of 'what if?' plagued my thoughts as I rubbed Raph's shell. _What if Mikey was frozen forever? What if this thawing didn't work? What if nothing did? What. If?_ I shook my head subtly. _No. It'll be fine. This will work out. Don will be able to get-_

"YIIIKES! CCOOOLLDD!" Came a high-pitched screech from the bathroom. I smirked. Knew it would be okay! I got up and jogged with Raph to the bathroom. Dao was still where I left him, shaking under Leo's stern gaze. I would have scolded Leo, had Sensei's cautionary words not rang through my head. I found Mikey shivering under the shower, rubbing his arms and hopping from foot to foot, splashing water everywhere. I ran over and turned off the water before helping Don up. He was shaky, as well, but looked more shell-shocked than cold.

"Ow, Mikey! Gosh! No need to yell." He grumbled, wriggling a finger in his ear.

"Well, ex-excuse m-me!" Mikey retorted, still shaking. I grabbed a towel, and draped it over him. "I am s-so c-c-cold!"

"I know, bro." I said, rubbing Mikey's arms. He was still icy to the touch, but at least he'd mostly thawed out.

"Everything okay here?" Leo asked, and I saw Dao right beside him, quaking in terror when I turned around. I sighed.

"Yes. No permanent damage done." I said. "You can stop menacing my friend now." Yes, I was being sassy. I was aware of that. I just didn't care. Leo scowled.

"You can understand why I am a little distrustful." It was a statement. A true one. I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose, but still. Knock it off." He glared daggers at me, but moved aside. "Sorry, Dao. We take threats to our family's safety seriously."

"It wasn't _just_ a threat, Ami! He actually-" The conversation was cut off as Mikey tackled Dao, and tussled with him on the floor, yelling insults as he pummeled the poor guy who was clearly outmatched. I sighed, running over to pull Mikey off.

" _Enough_!" I yelled. Lupa, who was ready to pounce, flinched with everyone else as their eyes fell on me. I stood my ground, growling. "I am only saying this once; This. Is. My. _Friend_. He did not _mean_ to freeze anybody, right Dao?" It would be best to let everyone hear Dao's side of things. They'd understand then...I hope. Dao swallowed, standing up shakily.

"Y-yeah. I feel terrible. I am happy that what I did was reversible. I had no idea I could do that, I swear! This is as new to me as it is to you, I _promise_." He said, voice growing stronger the more he talked. " I feel like I've just been mutated, but directly afterwards, I was frozen for more tests by...weird android men."

"Weird android men?" Don asked, cocking a brow, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah. I never got a clear look. It was pretty much a grab-and-mutate scenario. That was fifty years ago." Dao sighed. "I am still a fourteen-year-old in body, but one could say I'm sixty-four." He said. Don looked closer at Dao now.

"Really?" Raph spat. "And I'm from the future." Dao bristled.

"I'm telling the truth!" He turned to me. "You believe me, right, Asami?" I nodded. I had from the moment I met him.

"I'd be able to tell if you were lying, Dao." I said, smiling. "I can smell pheromones." I went on at the blank look I had received.

"Oh, really? What are pheromones?"

"Basically, they are the smell of emotions. Your body secrets a chemical with a distinct scent when emotions are felt. With my lupine nose, I can pick them up." Dao's jaw dropped.

"Wow." He breathed. Lupa and Mikey finally smiled at my friend.

"Yeah. She's a mean, uh, lupine tracking machine!" Lupa cheered. "And when me and Ami work together, we can pretty much find you guys anywhere." Dao chuckled.

"Guess that makes Hide-and-Seek difficult?" Mikey groaned.

"You have _no_ idea!" It was great to see that everyone was starting to relax around Dao. They were not _fully_ convinced he meant no harm, but at least Dao was getting more comfortable around my siblings.

"I see you children are getting along." Dad said, appearing like magic behind me. I stiffened slightly, but was actually fairly used to it by now. I turned, waving to him.

"Hey, dad. This is Dao, my new friend. Dao, this is my father, Master Splinter." Dao swallowed.

"H-hello, sir. I apologize deeply for...for f-freezing your son. I had no idea I could freeze things, I swear." His voice rose at least ten octaves as Dad leaned closer. For several seconds, there was silence, as Dao fought not to look away and father stared deep into Dao's eyes.

"I believe you." He said at least. I breathed a silent breath of relief. Dao was safe. Leo came over, staring at Dao as well.

"Is this another lesson, Dad?" He asked. Dad chuckled.

"No. This is called 'trusting your gut.'" Leo smiled.

"Oh." I rolled my eyes. Dao chuckled nervously.

"Does this mean I'm not gonna get attacked anymore?" I laughed, throwing my arm around his shoulder.

"Nah. We're all good." I then narrowed my eyes at my siblings. " _Right_?"

"Yes, Ami." (Leo) "Sure thing, sis." (Lupa) "Whatever." (Mikey, who still looked mad as cuss) and "I still don't trust him." (Raph, obviously) came back at me. I sighed.

"That's the best you're gonna get, I'm afraid." I noted, hands on hips. "Wanna tour? If you're going to stay here, you should know your way around." I said with a wink. Dao sighed.

"If you say so. You're probably right." I took his wrist.

"Here, we have the dojo, where we train in the mornings and evenings..."

=#=#=#=#=

"You really don't have to..." Dao said awkwardly as I spread sheets over a spare mattress in a small storage section that served as a suitable bedroom. I smiled, turning to face him.

"Really, Dao. It's no big deal. I don't mind." He shuffled his feet, not meeting My eyes. It was clear he still felt horrible, and to be honest, I was still shaky from the expreience of Mikey being frozen. I sigh. "Dao, listen...it's not your fault. You have no control of these powers. Yet. So, naturally, we can't hold you entirely resposible. Yeah, you screwed up, but it was reversible. No real damage done, okay?"

"...Okay." He sniffled. I decide to drop the matter and head to the kitchen to get dinner going. Dao followed me like a lost puppy. I sighed.

"Hey dude. Seriously. We're all okay. We've moved on. Don't blame yourself, kay? We're cool." Dao flinched. I smirked. "Pardon the pun." Dao scowled at me.

"That's not funny." I shrug.

"I know. Anyway, if you would...uh..." I assigned him tasks and we chatted as dinner was prepared. He seemed to fit right in, at least to me. Dao himself, however, was still riddled with guilt and shame. I needed to find a way to help him. "So, what do you normally do for fun?" Dao hummed as he stirred the macaroni sauce.

"I suppose I used to...read."

"Well...uh...we don't have a lot of books, but...you are welcome to them." Dao smiled.

"Thank you." It took a while, but we eventually got Dao to feel like a brother to us. Raph took a little while longer than the rest, simply because he was the most protective of Mikey. But Raph eventually got it into his thick skull that Dao was not an enemy. Meaning, I had to drill the message into his skull whilst sparring. It ended with us wrestling all around the dojo, screaming our points of view at each other until I accused Raph of not liking Dao just cus he was a mutant. Raph snapped that it wasn't true, but I pressed, because he'd faltered. Soon enough, we were embracing and Raph sheepishly apologized and all was fairly well. We eventually found him a better room and he settled in for a few years before we moved him out into a small abandoned, forgotten home practically above the lair on the surface. He visited frequently and we stayed in contact with these nifty little devices Don cooked up for scavenging expeditions, so those remaining at home wouldn't worry their brains out. Things were fine, until the boys turned fifteen...


	4. s01e01 prt 1

**YEAH...I KNOW. CLICHE AND OVERDONE. I GET IT. BUT I REALLY WANTED TO PUT ASAMI IN ALL OF THE EPISODES. I WILL MAKE A LOT OF REFERENCES TO THINGS I AM INTO AT THE MOMENT, SO, NO JUDGING, OR FLAMING, OKAY? CUS, IF YOU DO, I WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FLAME YOUR STORY! OH, AND I'M ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH TITLES FOR SPLINTER. ASAMI CALLS HIM SENSEI, FATHER, DAD, AND SPLINTER INTERCHANGABLY. THEY ALL APPLY TO HIM, AND AS I SEE FIT, I CHANGE TITLES FOR HIM. DON'T HATE ME! AND I DON'T OWN MARKIPLIER. MARK DOES. I AM JUST A BIG FAN OF HIS, AND I WANTED TO SHOW MY LOVE. YOU ROCK, BRO! OH, AND I ALSO DON'T OWN SEAN MCLOUGHLIN. (I think that's the right spelling of his last name). HE ROCKS LIKE A BOSS!*WHAPISH* HIGH FIVES AL L AROUND!**

 **AND I ACTUALLY _DO_ REPLACE CUSS WORDS WITH THE WORD 'CUSS'. DON'T JUDGE ME!**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~LEOFAN221**

I tensed, knuckles white on the handle of my practice staff.

My adversary? As yet invisible, but I know he is here, in this room. _Okay, he's not an enemy, but he is my sparing partner._ My ears flick at one small scuffling sound in the rafters. Tiny, hardly noticeable. But I was trained to notice the hardly noticeable.

 _There he is..._

He leaps down, nearly on top of me, but I have enough experience with this to have already rolled away, blocking the head-swing from his staff. He swings multiple times within seconds, and I block nearly every one, earning hardly any bruises.

One swing to the legs; jumped over.

One swing at my abdomen; score for him.

One swing at my arms; blocked.

Back; Score two for my adversary, but there is a second in which he is vulnerable, and I suddenly grip the staff in both hands, and swing at his chest, pinning him to the wall with his hands preventing the staff from doing too much damage, which is a feat, considering how far outside my strength level he is. He chuckles, pleased, as always when we spar.

"Well done, Asami. You are progressing quickly." He said, still with a chuckle in his voice. I release my sparing partner, Splinter, and bow slightly to my father, as his other occupation is Sensei in the ancient art of Ninjitzu, the way of the ninja (or kunoichi, if you are a female.). "Now, let's go check on your brothers and sister." Splinter said, already walking toward the door. I smiled, eager as always to watch my siblings train. It meant that I was able to see how close they were to being at my level...which was most likely when Dad would let me take my brothers and sister to a whole new world. We emerged from our private training room, to find Raph standing over Leo, a smug smirk on his face. Lupa was leaning against the tree, having spared first with Mikey, and lost apparently. She hardly ever knelt on the mat when she lost a match anymore. It was a matter of pride to her. She needed to prove that she was independent.

Or something like that.

"Yame!" Splinter called, walking over, with me on his heels. Lupa sighed and knelt beside Mikey (even Lupa's pride was no match for the automatic authority Splinter held over her) as Leo and Raph joined our other siblings on the mat. Leo bobbed quickly in respect. "You all did very well." To-san continued, having listened to the others' fighting throughout our match. I nodded my agreement.

"But I did better." Raph quipped, earning a incredulous look from both me and Leo. I then rolled my eyes and face-palmed, realizing that Raph was just being Raph.

"This is about self-improvement, Raphael. It is _not_ about winning and losing." Splinter admonished, circling behind the five mutants, me leaning against the tree.

"I know, Sensei. But I won, and they lost." He said, placing cocky hands on the back of his head, unable to foresee what was coming, as Splinter stepped closer to Raphael. I shook my head. Poor turtle...he should know the reprocussions of sassing out Dad...

"Raph, man, you just love digging graves, doncha?" Me and Lupa asked at the same time, chuckling as Splinter grabbed a nerve in Raph's neck. He craned his neck up in an effort to relieve the pressure on that spot, in vain.

"AH! AH! AH! But what's really important is that we all did our best." Raph cried, voice strained in pain. "Good job everyone!" He congratulated, in the same voice. Splinter chuckled as he let go of Raph's neck, and we all went to do our own things. Leo went to watch an episode of his one true obsession besides training; Space Heroes. Raph went to practice punching the dummy for a while, Donnie went to his lab to work on Lord knows what, Mikey went to his room to read comics for awhile before he had to make the Mutation Day dinner, and Lupa went to tease Leo. I went to my room, to read Harry Potter (yes, I am in love with it. It's such an intoxicating story!) and listen to my music.

=#=#=#=

I picked at my algae and worms (A 'special treat' that we _all_ ate on Mutation Day. Even Splinter.) as Leo did the same, eyes closed. Raph stabbed his food with his chopsticks, getting only a little at a time. _(Cuss, is_ _ **everything**_ _stabbing with him?!)_

Donnie got a worm in his chopsticks, lifting it up and trying to get it in his mouth before it fell back into his plate. He failed, letting out a 'bleh' as he put his arms back down. Me, Splinter, Raph and Leo were the only ones that didn't audibly complain about the food. If you count Donnie's little noise as complaining.

"Eww, I saw that worm move!" Lupa exclaimed, in a voice of disgust. Mikey stood at the stove, stirring the pot, a wide grin on his face. I swear, he is the only one who _loves_ algae and worms.

"There's a little more algae and worms left, if anyone wants it. Anybody? Aanyybbody?" Mikey drew out the last 'anybody', as if that would make us want more. No one did, and we told him so. Politely, but we told him none the less.

"Well then, I guess no one left room for...Cake!" Mikey said, producing said cake from behind his shell. We all leaned forward eagerly, me and Lupa desperately wanting it not to be more algae and worms.

"Whoa!" Everyone except Splinter exclaimed. "It _is_ a cake!" Donnie said, hopeful.

It was just more algae and worms. I sighed and sat back down on my bar-stool, as Raphael tasted the cake, and proclaimed what I had just figured out.

"Made of...algae." We all saw a worm go out of and back into the 'cake.' "And worms." Raphael finished. Ever curious, Leonardo took a closer look at the cake.

"What's the frosting made out of?" He asked. Mikey slid the cake closer to himself, as if to shield it from his siblings.

"You don't wanna know." He replied, then changed the subject quickly. " HAPPY MUTATION DAY!" He cried quickly as he whipped the cake back out, and we all agreed.

"Ah, yes. Fifteen years ago, our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families." Splinter said, as he always did on Mutation Days. Not missing a beat, Mikey leaned in close.

"Tell us the story, Master Splinter." He pleaded. "Please? _Please_?" I rolled my eyes, smiling down at my goofball of an older brother. I can't imagine my life without My whacky siblings, though the circumstances under which we formed our family wasn't the greatest.

"Michelangelo, I have already told it, many times." Splinter was replying patiently asI slipped out of the room, knowing where this was headed, and prepared to go topside. My very own Mutation Day present to myself. I have been doin' it for around five years now. With Splinter's permission, obviously. I slipped into my room, locked the door and changed into my catsuit, clipping on my few pieces of armor.

 **(A.N: Think elvish armor from The Hobbit/Lord of The Rings, but made of iron, with the Hamato Clan symbol etched into the breastplate, with the same pieces to it as Karai's outfit, and no helmet. Just her ninja mask.)**

That done, I came back out.

"That was the beginning of our lives together. It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all." Splinter was saying, and I had to suppress a giggle at Lupa's almost dead expression. Leo and Donnie were paying polite attention, Raph just looked bored, but Mikey, as always, looked extremely happy, no sign of the fact that we had heard this story every Mutation Day since we could understand it. Splinter held the same canister he had been talking about.

 _Where did he get it, you may ask? Probably for the best if you DON'T know, really...I don't even know._

Mikey happily grabbed it, hugging it tightly.

"Mom!" He sighed.

"You know that's not our real mother, right?" I said. _She's dead_. I add inwardly. Lupa chuckled as Mikey stuck his tongue at me, and Leo turned to Splinter, leaning forward with his eyes bright and eager.

"So, Sensei, now that we're _fifteen,_ I think we're finally ready to head to the surface, don't you?" Leo asked, placing special emphasis on the age. This was done every year in an attempt to convince Dad to let me take the boys and Lu-lu up to the surface. Needless to say, it never works.

"Yeah, like Ami does." Lupa said, face a mirror of everyone elses' eagerness.

"I am _five_ years older, guys." I mumbled, but then clamped my mouth shut as Splinter started talking.

"Yes." Everyone cheered. "And...no." Everyone groaned.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young. You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely." He said, rising from the table, and started pacing the room. I frowned. That was a little harsh.

"So, Sensei...isn't that just...no?" Donnie asked.

"Yes. And...No." Splinter said enigmatically, "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes." This was practically the same lecture he had given me when I tried to get him to let me go out top.

"A-ha! So, in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes." Donnie said, deep in thought, trying to decipher what our father was saying. He seemed to finally get it. "So we _can_ go!" He exclaimed. I scoffed. Not likely.

"No." Splinter said with a subtle shake of his head. _Called it._

"And...yes?" Asked Don with false hope.

"No." Father replied, a bit firmer this time.

"AW!" Donnie cried, exasperated. Leo looked like he wanted to say something right then, but thought about it for two seconds before speaking.

"Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us," Leo said. _I think over-protect is more like it._ I grumbled in my mind, not daring to speak it out loud. "but we can't spend our _whole_ lives hiding down here, while Asami gets to go up-top..." He trailed off at the last sentence, wincing as though just realizing that what he was saying _might_ actually hurt me. Which it didn't. Honestly, I was used to it by now. Suddenly, all five of my younger siblings were on the ground, hands clasped out in front of them, eyes looking as close to a lost puppy's as is humanly-or mutant-ly—possible, Lupa obviously in first place. Splinter struggled against the over powering attack of cuteness,(more so from Lupa than any one else, really) but in the end he submitted. He sighed heavily, ears slumping slightly before resuming their usual place. Me and Sensei had discussed this. We agreed that _perhaps_ they were as ready as I was when I was fifteen.

"You may go with your sister. Tonight." He said. Anything else he may or may not have said was drowned out by the elated cheers of everyone. This was what I had wanted from the start of my excursions. To show my siblings the awesome world I had discovered beyond the manhole covers that had previously been as close as we ever got to the surface. I mean, Dao was close by, but going to meet him was nothing compared to patrols. It only gave barely a glimpse of the city.

"High Three!" Mikey declared, and we all joined in happily. Unfortunately, we had to wait until the sun went down to leave, so we were stuck for a few more hours. In that time, we all trained a little before our excursion. Just to make sure we were at the top of our game, and prepared for anything the surface might deal out. I stood in the doorway to the dojo afterwards, leaning against the post, watching the way Leo watched his show (again) as Raph came over and sat down to read a magazine, and make fun of Leo's fan-boying. Splinter suddenly appeared and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"My daughter, please be extra vigilant. Bring your siblings home safely." He said, eyes never leaving the main room.

"Hai, father." I replied, also looking at Leo's fanboy grin as he watched his all-time favorite hero lamely slap an equally lame under-dog whose name I keep forgetting. Raph looked up momentarily.

"Asami, you will need to take charge of your siblings while you are out, and protect them, should the need arise." Splinter said, drowning out whatever Raph was saying to Leo. I turned to see Splinter's almost sad and worried face. "And do not be incredibly late tonight. Understood?"

"Of course, father. I mean, hai Sensei. You think I'm ready?" I said, dipping my head slightly. I still harbored doubts. But I knew that anyone who wanted to hurt my brothers would have to get through me before I let them take a single step toward my family.  
"I know you are, my child." He replied in a confident voice, drawing me into an embrace. Our conversation was cut off by the entrance of Donatello and Michelangelo.

"It's go time!" Mikey cheered, as he and Donnie strummed air guitars. I grinned as I watched the boys and Lupa practiced a few moves one last time, then stood in a line, stick straight, like little soldiers.

 _Awww, they're so cute when they look this serious..._

"You are going up to a strange and hostile world. You must maintain awareness at all times." Splinter ordered.

"Hai, Sensei." They replied, heading for the turnstiles that had mainly been the boundary of their world, until now.

"Don't talk to strangers." Sensei said, hand reaching out as if to pull us back. I was sitting on the base of a turnstile, grinning, as the boys and Lupa returned to the line-up.

"Hai, Sensei." They said, sounding only slightly impatient. Again, they headed my way. Again, Splinter called them back.

 _Oh, boy. Over-protective Splinter on the loose. Look out._

" _Everyone_ is a stranger!" He reminded us. I chuckled at their expressions. They were really, really bored, and wanted to get going, now that they were _this_ close to getting to the surface. They didn't even bother getting back into line.

"Hai, Sensei." They said, letting the impatience out in their words. Splinter sighed, sensing our unease, and impatience to get topside. I was struck with deja-vu from when I went to the surface the first time.

"Good luck, my children." He said, and we cheered and finally the others reached me, but as we were leaving Splinter called out one last piece of advice.

"Make sure you go before you leave. The restrooms up there are filthy!" He called. Me and Lupa laughed, but the boys seemed embarrassed by father's words.

" _Sensei_!" They cried, not even stopping in our headlong rush to the ladder.

We made it to the ladder without incident. Leo was first, and I brought up the rear. It was only fair, since I had already seen the wonders of the topside city. When I finally got up, I was behind a wall of shells, with one break for Lupa's back.

"Whoa..." They all breathed. I was relieved to find that they liked their first taste of the city. I was, to be honest, slightly worried that they would not like the city, though Dad would be happy that they'd given up going to the surface.

"It's so..." Mikey continued, "beautiful." He finished, in complete awe of everything around them, including the homeless man of this alley, who turned in his sleep with a disgusting fart. Me and Lupa were the only ones to pull a face.

"Eww!' We chorused, careful not to wake him up. Then, we all moved down the street.

"This city is just FULL of possibilities. There could be an adventure around this corner," Nothing. "Or this one," Still, nothing out of the ordinary. "or maybe this one." Oh, look. A kitten meowing! _Definitely_ a sign of adventure. _Not._ "There's not, but there could be!" Leo said, with such an excited face, I thought he was gonna explode. The only other time I can recall Leo looking like that was when he received his katanas. He had spent the entire rest of the day with them in his hands practically the whole time. Lupa was swinging from her knees on a streetlight, admiring the view from up there.

"Guys! This is _so_ cool! Why don't we have one of these in the Dojo?! Donnie should _totally_ make one!" She chirped happily, if not loudly. Despite being slightly annoyed that my siblings didn't take the stealthy route, I chuckle.

"Lupa...shush! Do you want to get us discovered?" I called as loud as I dared. Lupa stuck her tongue at me.

Donnie suddenly ran up to an electronics store, pressing his face against the glass as he examined the contents. I rolled my eyes, despite myself. It was hardly surprising that my geek of a little brother went to the electronics store. He'd always told me he wanted better computers.

"Whoa, look at all the computers!" He gasped, and leaned in a little closer. "Is that the Next Generation cadmium processor with Quantum encryption?!" He said excitedly. Raphael walked over, and looked at the computers, and his drooling brother, with mock admiration.

"I don't know, Donatello." He said, obviously mocking his scientific brother. "Is it?"

Donnie leaned in close to get a better look. "It is!" I looked around, making sure that no one was around. That would be awkward. I saw Mikey looking around, too, though most likely not for the same reason. Then, he spotted something, and ran over to it.

"Guys! Check this out! It's a hand made outta light!" He had found a neon sign. I face-palmed. _Wow_. Lupa instantly jumped down, and ran over, standing right next to her overly excited brother. Oh, boy. Then, they gasped as the sign for a fortune teller's shop flashed a eye. "Now it's an eye made outta light." Another switch. "Now the hand's back!" On and on it went for a few moments, Lupa just staring in admiration. Raph grabbed Mikey by the bandana tails. I just grabbed Lupa's head, not saying a word.

"Come on, Genius!" Raph pulls his brother toward the street,("The eye!") and the rest of us. Then, just as I'm about to explain what the sign was to Lupa and Mikey, a human boy on a motorcycle pulls up.

I pray that the glare off the headlights are enough to hide our appearance from the teenage human boy, but the look he gives us is enough to prove that it wasn't. Lupa and Raph growl menacingly, wriggling their fingers in front of their faces, expressions priceless. The human took off again down the street, crying out in alarm as he did.

"Haha! That was kinda fun!" Raph comments. Lupa nods, smiling innocently.

"Raph...Lupa...that kid might go around telling everyone about us now." I hiss, just as Leo notes that we should head somewhere where we aren't as exposed. Good idea. I saw Mikey grab the pizza box that had fallen when that human boy drove off. I chuckle, but motion for him to come on over. We headed up the fire escape, and over to an AC unit about halfway across the roof. Mikey brought the pizza box out, and placed it on top of the unit.

"Pissa?" Mikey read, and I had to strain against the laughter. This was too funny.

"Sh-should we open it?" Donnie asked timidly. I chuckled softly. Don made a move to do as he had asked, but Leo reached forward, as if to pull Don's hand back. There was no way I was gonna miss the most amusing scene before me, or mess it up, so I simply watched, barely containing laughter, filming every second to show Splinter when we get home.

"Careful! It could be dangerous." Leo cautioned. What was so amusing was _no one_ was asking _me_ if it was safe or not. I guess they must have forgotten that I had been coming up here for a while. Raph rolled his eyes, and finally opened the 'mysterious' box. Inside was a pepperoni pizza, still steaming. Everyone instantly gathered around the box, so I could no longer see the delicious food inside. They were all enthralled.

"I think it's...food." I lost it, laughing so hard, I fell off the other AC unit I was sitting on.

"Yes-"

"It's not like any food I ever saw." Raph noted, face distrustful.

"It's perfectly safe." I assured them. Mikey then grabbed a slice, apparently the only one who had heard me.

"I'll try it." He boldly declared, just as Lupa tried to grab the slice. He then stuffed half of it into his mouth. He looked (pardon the pun) shell-shocked. I giggled. Mikey then downed the rest of the slice as Lupa grabbed one. She, too, looked ready to explode with giddiness. I fell about laughing, having no self-control when things like this pop up. I mean, my brothers discovering pizza for the first time?

Good thing I had this on video...no way I'd let a moment like this slide."You guys wouldn't like it-"

"Totally not" Lupa agreed.

"-I'll take the rest!" The others clearly saw through that, naturally, and I barely got one slice (what? I needed _something_ to get the taste of algae and worms out of my mouth.) before the entire pizza was gone in seconds.

"This is way better than algae, worms, or oatmeal!" Raph declared. "Sorry, Ami. No offense to your cooking, it's just...wow!" I laughed, too amused to be offended. Seriously, I was hardly able to hold the camera, ending the video after Raph insulted my pancakes and my oatmeal. I was hardly ever able to make anything like this, and everyone treated the pancakes like they were real cake. Anyway, the pizza was gone, and Mikey was about to run off. I sighed. Naturally, food could not distract them forever.

"I love it up here!" Mikey cried.

"Preach it, brother!" Lupa agreed. I smirked.

"Wait til you see all of it!" I said, sprinting to the edge of the roof. "Come on! Follow me!"

"Wait, sis!" My siblings cried, running to catch up. We ran and ran like we would never get tired. Flipping was a breeze, and landing was only temporary for us as we soared, everyone following me.

"What a view!" Lupa cried after mere moments. I slid along a rooftop, leaping to the next.

"Yeah. Well, here we are! My favorite spot!" I declared. It was the best view around. I should know; I've been just about everywhere there is in the city. This is also near Dao's place. The guys had missed him. Maybe we could stop by...

"Alright guys, it's getting late." Leo sighed. How he even knew what time it was, I have no idea.

"No, it isn't." I pointed out. I usually go home at 2:00 or so when I was already tired at the start of patrol. "It's hardly 1:00. I usually stay out an hour or so more, at least."

"But still, we should probably head home."

"Are you kidding, Leo?" Lupa demanded. "You heard Asami. It's normal for her to stay out another hour or so. Let's-" She was drowned out by everyone else's protests. I felt resigned. After all, I was too afraid to stay out so long my first night. Maybe this is overwhelming for Leo...

"Whoa, guys, look at that!" Donnie cried, pointing excitedly toward something on the street below. It was a girl, looking about the guys' age, wearing a yellow shirt with a white number 5 on it, boyfriend shorts with what appeared to be leggings or something underneath, and black boots. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail. All in all, an average looking young woman.

"That, Donatello, is called a female. A human female." I said smugly, smirking devilishly. Lupa's head was tilted, her eyebrow cocked in a confused manner.

"You mean you looked like _that_ before Mutation Day?" I laughed. Oh, man...

"More like that one picture one Dad's mantle-shrine thing." I felt stupid for not having a proper name for it.

"Weird." I rolled my eyes. Donnie, however, looked shell-shocked, and I swear I could hear his heartbeat thumping out of his chest. I swallowed. Was this...Donnie's first crush? Oh, man...poor guy. Let's hope he'll get over it. It most likely will just end with a heartbroken, depressed Donnie, and me as mad as cuss.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!" Yep. I sighed. I would hate to be the one to tell him that he would never be able to get together with her, most likely, but...I'll probably have to. Ugh.

"Isn't she the _only_ girl you've ever seen?" Raph asked, and Don was suddenly himself again. I chuckled, turning to watch as the girl and her father headed down the street. I couldn't quite see what Don obviously saw, but couldn't harp on him for a (hopefully) innocent crush on the first female human he had ever seen. It's actually quite adorable.

"Wait...you've seen me and Asami!" Lupa fumed. Don rolled his eyes. I chortled into my hand.

"I meant the most beautiful _human_ girl I've ever seen." Don replied, crossing his arms.

"But Raph's right; she's the _only_ human girl you've-" Lupa countered, but was interrupted.

"Look, my point still stands, okay?! She is the prettiest, _and_ the first, alright?!"

"Don, calm do—whoa..." I said, happening to glance back at the girl, and find that a white van full of identical men were menacing the girl and her father. I narrowed my eyes. I hadn't had any recent dealings with these creeps, but something about them...sent chills up my spine. These guys...where have I seen them before? I feel like I have...huh.

"We've gotta save them!" Don cried, making to leap off. Leo held him back. I was already calculating the fastest route down. The girl's father was already out cold, and the girl herself was being dragged toward the van. We didn't have time to waste.

"Splinter's instructions were _very_ clear; we're supposed to stay away from people. And bathrooms." He added, for some unfathomable reason. I scoffed. This was ridiculous.

"Says the wanna-be hero." Leo fumed at me. I stuck my tongue at him. It was pretty hypocritical of him, praising heroism, but shying away when the opportunity arose to do some real good. I rolled my eyes as Leo spluttered for an answer.

"Yeah, I thought you wanted to be a hero. Since when do heroes ask for permission?" Raph demanded, eyes narrowed, in position to leap off the rooftop in a second. Leo sighed. He knew defeat when he was faced with it, I hoped, readying my tomahawks for ease of drawing. I now remembered one of these guys robbing some lab. That battle was one I had to run from, as police quickly arrived on the scene and I never saw that guy again. I did, however, know that the dude meant business. It head been years since then, and I wondered why they all looked identical. It was creepy.

"They don't, but-"

"Come _on_ , guys!" I cried, leaping, eyes white, I'm certain, as I free-fell toward the street.

"I'm going with Asami." Don growled.

"Seconded." Lupa cried, unactivated scythe in her hand. Leo sighed before leaping after us. Good. The girl was still calling for help, her arms encased in two of the men's hands. We slunk into position, full on ninja mode. I tapped one of the men on the shoulder.

"Don't you know it's rude to treat a lady like that?" I quipped, punching him away from the girl. Ow! This guy was _hard_! OWWW! I kicked him down again, hissing as my toe connected with his shoulder. No one is this hard to hit! Yikes! Everywhere, we were losing. It seemed like a free-for-all more than a rescue attempt. I batted two of the man away, and they just kept coming. I stood close to the girl, my back turned to her to not reveal my face just yet. I mean, it's fairly obvious I'm probably not entirely human, but this could just be some elaborate costume, right? I mean, to her, it might be. I intend to keep it that way as long as—AGH!

One of the men punched me aside, and I crashed into Lupa, who nearly sliced me.

"Sorry!" We both called as we charged again. I used the flat of my tomahawks to knock a man backward who was trying to get the girl again. She was cowering still. I hoped she was one of those girls that curl up, wishing it would all go away. It would make not revealing ourselves that much easier. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Leo's katanas zipping toward Raph's shell! And received a sucker-punch to the shoulder for my trouble. _Cuss_ , that _hurt_!

"Raph, look out!" I called, blocking a punch that sent tingles up my forearm.

"What the-" Raph didn't get to finish as he was punched away. I flinched, even as the guy I was fighting flipped Lupa over his shoulder, and she ended up on top of me.

"OOOFFF!" We cried, and I could only lay there, head spinning and world tunneling. Lupa was as bad as I was, somehow. She had me as a cushion! How was she that winded?! I saw a man pick up the girl, carrying her toward the van over his shoulder. I couldn't get up until Lupa did. Which irritated me.

"Don!" I barked, as he was nearest. He turned. And chucked his staff like a frizbee. It crashed into the man's back, just below the girl's hands. I shoved Lupa off me with a sudden surge of adrenaline. She grunted as she hit the street. But got up quickly. I could only watch, as if in slow-motion, Don catching the girl. There were what seemed like several seconds of a strained silence, Don tried smiling, and then...

"WAAHH!" Knew it! She's a screamer. What I was shocked at was Don's reaction. Okay, that was a lie. I figured something like this was bound to happen. Him dropping her was the only real surprise, but even that was somewhat to be expected. The girl scooted away, horror-struck. Don took a few small, tentative steps toward her, careful not to make sudden movements. Smart. I gulped. She was far from calmed by Don's tentative display, not that it stopped him from trying.

"No, no, no, don't worry. We're the good guys." Don said, arms up to show he meant no harm. The look in the young woman's eyes reminded me of a cornered animal's. He kept advancing. Not very smart. The girl screamed when she heard Don talk, which I thought was a little rude, but, sadly, to be expected, I suppose. Don smiled again. "It's okay." He assured her, speaking slowly and calmingly. That was smarter than walking steadily toward her like that. She stood and turned to flee, finding three more men facing her. She spun back around to find that Don was holding out a hand to her, smiling warmly and encouragingly. Just as she was about to take it, though, I was called to battle by a near punch to my stomach. I swung my tomahawks, earning a tiny amount of breathing room. Flipping over the freaky men, I kicked out, knocking all of them down. Predictably, they just got back up. Geez! What was _with_ these guys? They still don't ring a—AGH! One caught my neck when I got too close for a swing. My tomahawks clattered to the ground as I attempted to pry his hands off my neck, my feet the ground and I struggled and gagged.

 _I was terrified. Where was Daddy going? Why were those weird men talking to Daddy that way?_

 _Oh, no! My puppy! She shouldn't walk out there. Daddy said to stay here._

 _I forgot all about what Daddy told me as I crawled out of my hiding spot after my new puppy. I soon found her. In the hands of one of the creepy men, who bent over, and grabbed at me. I flinched back, but the man grabbed my neck. I chocked, nearly starting to cry, it hurt so bad! "Hey! Let me go! Help! Daddy!" I screamed. The man's grip was stinging now, and I couldn't see well. I heard fighting, and tried to hit the man's arms, but I was getting too tired all of a sudden._

I had felt this before, I realized. This man (or one of these guys that all look the same) had done this to me before...when I was mutated.

I kicked the man's stomach, then kneed him between the legs, which I think only hurt me, but I was released nonetheless. I punched him back, again striking the stomach, as I was noticed that was what got him to release me. I saw the one that had chocked me (I think) run over to Mikey and Don, and I couldn't warn them in time before they were kicked into the sides of a staircase up to a small apartment building. Oohh, that's gotta hurt. I flipped over a charging guy, and punched him into the ground, but he merely rolled and got up. I growled. This was stupid! How were these men _this_ unaffected by pain?! How did they all look _so_ similar?! It makes no sense! By the time I landed, I met a foot to the face, and tumbled, face-planting into the street. I think my nose is broken. It started bleeding as I picked myself up. I noted that the pain was already receding, and that the girl was gagged and in the van. _Oops. Ugh._

I stumbled slightly, trying to keep up as my siblings tore off after the van. We barely kept up, even going on the rooftops. But it was no use. We weren't exactly up to par, losing the van in moments, and somehow it had taken this long to realize that we had left Lu-Lu and Mikey behind! I ordered a double-back, and for once Leo didn't argue. We made it back to the area the kidnapping had taken place in, and my siblings weren't there! Oh, geez! Cheese-balls, where could they had gone?!

"Mikey! Lupa!" I called, and they came running, I could smell the fear waving off them.

"Guys! Guys!" They cried. Lupa was shaking like a leaf, and so was Mikey, but he was calm enough to talk, at least. Lupa looked ready to drop, she was so pent up. "That dude, he—he, had a brain!" I raised a brow. Obviously, he had a brain. What did that mean? Why would that freak my siblings out this badly?

"Mikey, you aren't making-"

"Just _listen_!" Lupa interjected.

"We all have brains, Mikey." Leo explained, deadpanned expression showing his lack of amusement.

"Not all of us." Donnie added. I smacked my insensitive brother upside the head.

"That's rude." I reprimanded. Don shrugged. I glared at him and he deflated slightly.

"In our _chests_?!" Our youngest siblings cried, and the fear and horror became more pronounced among their scents of terror and shock. There was no deceit and falsehood, however. They were telling the truth. Leo sighed.

"No, guys. Not in our chests." He explained in a tired, bored voice. He didn't want to have to deal with this, especially not after that failure of a battle. The mutants frowned.

"You aren't listening to me!" They accused sharply. I was taken aback. They really meant it...again I ask, what the fudge were they talking about?

"You aren't speaking sense!" I said sharply. "If you spoke-" The slap shocked me. Lupa and Mikey were now out of sheer panic mode, but still... "Leo!" I cried, turning on him. He can't treat his siblings like this! Ever!

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Did you just slap me?" Mikey and Lupa asked, hands up in a defensive position.

"What they said." I replied. "Not acceptable, bro."

"I was calming you two down!" Leo defended himself.

"Leo, Captain Ryan's techniques are not gospel truths!"

"I never said they were!" Leo retorted. I rolled my eyes. He essentially did.

"Why would that calm us down?!" The youngest mutants demanded, eyes narrowed and angry now.

"I think they're delusional." Donnie noted.

"No, they aren't." I said, not knowing how I knew. Something about it seemed...right.

"You gotta believe us, sis!" Mikey pleaded. I frowned, deep in thought. They at least _thought_ they were telling the truth. But it could have been a delusion, right?

"I think I-"

"I'm not so sure we do." Raph interjected. Weird...I'm starting to get a headache, not that I'm surprised, really...I had gotten hit pretty hard. I felt bad for my little siblings as they led us over to the alley they had emerged from, and...there was nothing there. Something seemed natural about that, as well, like this was always the case with these people. I noticed a weird liquid splattered about the wall...odd...

"I just...have a feeling..."

Everyone turned to leave. I raised a brow at the wall with the splatter.

"Lupa, was that stain there before?" I asked on a hunch, and both young mutants turned.

"No! That was from when the alien brain latched onto Mikey's face!" I blinked. What? Alien...brain?

"Okay..." I sighed. "Look, we need to talk to Sensei, anyway. Let's just get home." Everyone else was already lifting a manhole in the nearest alley. I was dreading the talk with Sensei, knowing I should have been more attentive out there. And I really should have been. How had I messed that up? I had dealt with that kind of thing several times already. What happened out there? Why wasn't I able to deal with those guys? How did we screw that up so badly?!

=#=#=#=#=

I _still_ have no idea, and I am trying to defend myself against Sensei. I gulped, feeling shame and guilt fill me as Splinter listened to the tale. Leo was the one who spoke up. No one else dared risk it. I, for one, felt too ashamed. I just don't know what went wrong, though. We had our butts kicked thoroughly, and failed to help that girl and her dad. We are ninjas. We should have been able to save that poor family, at least...

"And so, your inability to work together allowed them all to get away." Splinter snapped as soon as Leo fell silent. I bit my lip. Sensei was right...but still. Those guys were _too_ unresponsive to pain! There is _no_ way those men hadn't had some kinda augmentation or _something_ , at the very least.

"Well, maybe if we didn't have to waste time arguing with Hero-Boy, I could have saved them!" Leo flinched. I rolled my eyes. Raph had to resort to name-calling to keep his ego afloat. A testament to how badly we had failed.

"Hey! If you hadn't gotten in my way, I could have done it!" Leo retorted, cocking a thumb toward his chest, eyes narrowed angrily. I sighed.

"Look, we _all_ screwed up, okay? No one single mutant is to blame here." I mumble.

"And you went flying off on your own! How smart was _that?_!" Leo went on, snapping at Don this time.

"He was trying to help the girl!" Lupa barked. "Give him a break!"

"Says the girl that did that very same thing." Leo grumbled.

"It would have worked out great, if _somebody_ hadn't hit me on the head with their nunchucks!" Don seethed at Mikey, who frowned.

" _Stoppit_ , guys!" I growled. "Like I said, there is no one single person at fault here."

"Your sister is correct, children." Dad added, but it nothing to assuage the situation.

"Well, this never would have happened if...if somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!" Mikey defended hurriedly. I blinked. Oh, snap! Great. Now we're all grounded. _Wonderful_. All heads snapped up, and all eyes were on Splinter, who had halted his pacing midstride. I gulped. "Oh, geez." Mikey gasped.

"Way to go, loser." Lupa growled under her breath.

"Sensei...I didn't mean to..." Here's the grounding...I know it...

"No, Michelangelo. You are right." I sighed. Here it comes...

"I am?" Mikey asked. Lupa mirrored my expression; that of someone being led to the chopping block or gallows. She was probably mentally writing her will..like me.

"He is?" The other turtles echoed. I swallowed.

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there." I bit my lip again, feeling my stomach plummet to my toes. "Even Asami was not completely ready for everything the surface deals you." I sighed. Knew I'd be dragged into this... "I have trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team." Okay. So we just do team-building exercises, and- "And as your teacher, your _father_ , the responsibility for that is mine." It's not fair for Sensei to blame himself for something _we_ screwed up on. It was _our_ mistake, and now we have to fix it. "Perhaps in another year, we can try again." My eyes widened. _Sorry, Sensei, all due respect, really, but...NO WAY!_

"'Another year'?!" Don blurted, looking horrified, which mirrored my reaction perfectly. I knew Dad was extremely hesitant to let us loose on the world, but this is _ridiculous_! "Has everyone forgotten that people were _kidnapped_?! They don't have a _year_ , Sensei."

"Please, Dad. I know we screwed up, but we _have_ to fix what we did wrong. Please!" I begged.

"You weren't there, Sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared, and she was counting on me—er, us—to save her!" Don added.

"I could smell her terror, Sensei." I pleaded. I had to make Dad see that we could and need to fix our mistakes, not run away from them. That's what he himself taught us. "She needs someone to help her, and we are the only ones that even know that those people were kidnapped. Please, let us fix our mistake, Dad." I swallowed. It was not often I spoke that way to my father, but sometimes the situation called for it. Like now. Dad was lost in thought for a few minutes, a war raging in his eyes. He turned and looked at his shrine (totally the right word). I could hear a subtle gulp, then a tiny gasp as Dad stared at the picture of his old life. I stood, not caring if I were going against ninjitsu protocol or whatever, and placed a hand on my father's shoulder. I, too, remembered that night I am certain still haunts Dad as it does me. His eyes widened slightly. After a moment, Dad turned back to the others, hands clasped behind his back, returning to his formal posture and firm expression.

"Yes. You must save her." I smiled in relief. Dad knew how we felt. He had failed once, and it left him scared and mutated. Well, okay, the failure resulted in a series of events that led us to where we are now, but still. And, as tragic and horrible as our past is, I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't change what happened, no matter what. The one thing I would even want to change is my mother's death. I would only want to reverse that, if possible, but even that tragedy has made me the person I am today, and I wouldn't change that for the world. Leo took a breath.

"I agree, Sensei, but in that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine." That was an understatement.

"Like that robot with the brain thingy." Oh, Mikey. He's taken every opportunity to chime in that the robots did, indeed, have a 'brain-thingy' inside them.

"That nearly _ate_ Mikey's face!" Lupa added. She, too, wanted us to never forget that those weird men had brains in their chests that wanted to eat our faces.

"Give it a _rest,_ you two!" Raph hissed.

"Calm down, Raph." I hissed back. "But seriously, guys. We know the guys had brains. Chill."

"Sorry." The youngest mutants replied. Splinter regained out attention with a hum.

"If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader." Father noted. Everyone, in synch, looked at me. I blanched. Naturally, as eldest, I was probably voted 'most likely to be the leader', but...I had given it a lot of thought, and no. I couldn't do it! I was not the leader here! Leo was more effective than I was.

"Not it." I said, my arms crossed.

"But, Asami..." Lupa started.

"Is not leader." I finished. "You're right."

"Can I be the leader?" Leo asked, raised his hand like he was in a classroom, broad smile all over his face.

"Leo...have you even given thought to what being a leader entails?" I shuddered.

"Yes, Asami." He replied, hand still raised.

"Why should you be the leader? I kicked your butt! I should be the leader!" Raph growled.

"Raph, that's not what makes a leader!" I retorted. "It means so much more than that."

"Hey, I'm smarter than all of you put together! It should be me!" Don put in, folding his arms angrily over his chest. I rolled my eyes.

"Again, that's not what makes a leader, Donnie." Don was not leader material, any more than Raph was. Sorry, guys, but Leo's the obvious choice here, and not just cus he's 'next in line'.

"No way! It should be me!" Mikey barked.

"And me!" Lupa added. Mikey turned to her.

"We could both be leader! That would be epic!" Lupa squealed in agreement.

"Why?" I asked. I was genuinely curious.

"No reason. We just think we should be the leaders." I rolled my eyes. Of course. They always went along with what everyone else wanted. I sighed. They really were sweethearts. Dad was already over by his bedroom door.

"This is a difficult decision. I will meditate on it." Which probably means we'll get an answer at breakfast tomorrow. If we're going, we need to go get that poor family. "It's Leonardo." Dad said, opening and closing his door again almost as soon as he had closed it. _Sassy Splinter on the loose. Look out everyone!_ I thought as everyone took in what Dad had said.

"So...no hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked tentatively. I sighed. This was probably not helping.

"Ahh, stick it in your shell!" Raph growled. I sighed. Nothing we could say or do would snap him out of it. I went after him anyway.

"Hey! Wanna spar?" I asked. What he needed was someone to vent to, someone other than Spike.

"Get lost." I then put myself in front of him.

"Come on, Raph." He scowled, and then threw a punch, which I caught. I twisted his arm, and got a knee to my stomach. Not too hard enough to really hurt me, but hard enough to know Raph was still mad. I grinned and flipped Raph over my shoulder. He let out a huff, and tripped me with his arm. I then full on tackled him, right there in the pit. We wrestled for a good couple minutes before I caught both of Raph's wrists, and secured them above his head. I then lightly tickled his armpit. One thing no one else knew about Raph; he is extremely ticklish. True to from, he wriggled, laughing.

"No, no, no! Ami!" He cried, laughing.

"Nuh-uh!" I cried, tickling him harder. He then surprised me by swinging his knees up and knocking them into my back, shocking me so much I toppled off him. I caught myself and sprung up into a handstand, pushing off to land on my feet and promptly fell again, due to laughing too hard.

"Thanks, sis."

"Anytime, Raph." I said, shoving him back down as I jogged back to the dojo. "Sup, guys. What's the plan?" Leo sighed. "Gotten that far, have you?" I snarked, looking at Don's notes. They were incredibly detailed, as usual. That kid wrote _everything_ down, which was probably a good idea. Too bad I didn't think like that.

=#=#=#=#=

"Explain to me one more time what we're doin' here?" Mikey asked, hand up to his mouth. We groaned. This was the fifth time he had asked that.

"Mikey, we've been over this." Leo began tiredly. "That van has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So, if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where he took them." It had taken a good half-hour or so to even get the plan together. Then it was another half-hour to find buildings with the same logo on them around the site of the kidnapping. Time I hoped wasn't wasted now.

"Way to overuse pronouns, bro." Lupa said. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey chirped, thrusting a hand into the air excitedly.

"Yeah!" Lupa chirped.

"Not the real objective, guys." I chuckled.

"Just hit the guy I tell you to." Leo snapped. He needs to learn to be more patient with Mikey and Lupa. Their pattern of thought is unique, not less important. Their child-like innocence was something to value, not degrade them for. It's amazing that they can always come up with something to lift our spirits when we're down without apparently even trying. I smiled. Those two were surely a gift, that was certain.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Raph asked.

"It's really the only solid plan we have, Raph." That, and I trusted Leo and Don's combined planning skills.

"Trust me." Leo said, smirking as he continued to watch the alleyway. "They'll be here any second." I rolled my eyes. Any second might be a stretch, but yes, Leo. They'll get here eventually, but probably not on your time table. I sighed, sitting down and leaning against the roof's outer ledge. I pulled out my T-Phone (they weren't really used, but they were there. We all had them) and went to the YouTube app, putting my special earbuds in and watching an amazing Let's Player by the name of Markiplier attempt to get through the hellish maze that is _Vanish_ , a truly creepy horror game. Markiplier screamed as he caught the first sight of the monster. It looked like a mutant vulture. I'm not kidding. It really does. Mark freaked out, and something about it just made me want to laugh. I giggle a little. Lupa just comes over, and sits down and puts one of my ear buds in. She inhales sharply as the monster began chasing Mark through the sewer tunnel as Mark screeched in sheer panic.

"Did Raph reveal himself to someone and end up giving them the inspiration for this game?" She whispered, not wanting a wrestling match, as the video drew to a close.

"Don't think so. Did you?" I joked, nudging my sister as Mark explained that he was not faking these reactions, daring the viewers to try it out for themselves in a dark room, headphone volume high up and all alone. Lupa rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please, Mark. After _Five_ _Nights at Freddy's_ , I don't think anything can scare me anymore." I smiled. Lupa had played one night and spent the next few in my bed, shaking with nightmares.

"I feel certain." I replied, tapping the next in the series of videos.

=#=#=#=#=

It ended up being an hour or two before anything happened. Me and Lupa barely held our laughter in as Mark ran from the monster yet again, then cringing (still laughing) as it caught him—yet again—and we heard the sound of a neck being sliced or snapped.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" Lupa groaned, chuckling. It was amazingly horrifying, and yet amusing all at once. "Ah, man, those screams, doh."

"Yeah. They're great." I chuckled, shaking my head. I tapped the next video. Mark was clearly getting more and more frustrated, judging by the overreactions every time he failed.

"Give it up already! The guy's not gonna show." Raph barked, voice a growl of irritation.

"We have to be patient." Leo replied calmly. I sighed and stood, putting my earbuds away for now.

"This is the only plan we got, Raph. They have to come back here at some point." I hoped I was right. Even if we didn't see the ones that had originally been involved in the kidnapping, the ones that did show should still know where the family was taken.

"Yeah, Raph! Think positive!" Lupa cheered.

"I'm _positive_ this isn't going to work." Raph retorted. Lupa stuck her tongue at her brother, and sat back down, and closed her eyes with a small yawn. "And Leo has to come up with a better plan, because the six of us sitting here with our thumbs up our noses-"

"I don't think they'd fit." Mikey mused, interrupting Raph, thumbs up and nearing his face. I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe me and Ami could do it, but you turtles..." Lupa replied, smirking.

"Not the point." I snapped. Sometimes, their antics were a bit too much.

"-is pointless!" Raph finished. I heard a distinct sound of a van pulling up. In synch, me and Leo smirked. Those people were here. Our plan had worked. Now all we had to do was get one of those guys to talk.

"You sure about that, Raph?" Raph scowled.

"He just showed up didn't he?"

"Sure did." I replied, smug look on my face.

"Eat it, Raph!" Lupa snarked.

"Should have complained two hours ago!" Raph snapped, crossing his arms angrily. Leo got a 'captain Ryan quoting mode' face on. I rolled my eyes, prepping to leap. If we didn't go soon, we'd miss our chance. I didn't even catch the quote as I sailed down toward the alleyway. I caught a fire escape. It would be pretty stupid of me alone to start the interrogation. We needed all of us for the full impact. Leo was highly annoyed as he fell to Earth seconds after his brothers and sister. I let go, so we all landed at about the same time.

"Alright buddy. We can do this the easy way or, my vote, the hard way." Raph growled, spinning his sais, eyes narrowed. The man (this one obviously human) was clearly shocked and slightly scarred. Good. Scarred people give information easier.

"What he said." Lupa agreed, eyes narrowed, scythe drawn.

"Yeah, look at it logically. There are six of us, and one of you." Of course Don would appeal to logic. "What are you gonna do?" I rolled my eyes. Trust Don to appeal to science and reason.

"All we want is information. Tell us what we wanna know, and everyone walks away happy and unharmed." I added. The man glanced between us like a cornered animal almost, then reached into his belt and pulled out-

AH! I grabbed Lupa and ducked, rolling as the man's laser gun fired away at us. The guy hustled into his van, and took off.

"He's getting away again!" Don moaned.

"No, he's _not_." Leo growled in response.

"Agreed." I added, drawing my tomahawks and high-tailing up to the rooftop to take off. My siblings were right behind me. The man took seemingly random, panicked turns that were sort of predictable. I smiled. Too easy, even with the lasers fired at us again. Me and Leo flipped high over a section of roof just as the van passed under us, throwing shurikens effortlessly. Leo's hit a split second after mine, dead in the tube of the tire. It crashed into the street beside it, turning over and making a shell-ton of noise. I sighed. These things were unavoidable at the best of times.

"Now we're gettin' somewhere." Leo declared proudly. I smiled.

"Something like that."

"What does that mean?" I chuckled. My siblings have a lot to learn about damage control, not that there was really any other way to stop that van...but for the first time doing this...they weren't bad. I'll give them that.

=#=#=#=#=

We approached with caution, lest we get shot full of lasers. I placed myself in front of Lupa and the others protectively. Like shell I was gonna let my siblings face the danger when I was _right there!_ No way. No one seemed to notice it, however. We crouched behind a set of small stairs up to a building, Leo making hand signals to direct his siblings, like when he and I alone went out to scout new ways to various dumpsters for scavenging. He was saying 'go around back', but everyone stared back blankly.

"I don't—know—what—that—means." Raph hissed irritably, making over-exaggerated hand gestures that were clearly mocking Leo's.

"Go around back." Leo snapped back with even less patience than Raph.

"Leo, they don't know those hand signals." I whispered patiently.

"Why didn't he just say so?" Mikey asked innocently.

"Seriously." Lupa added, rolling her eyes. Leo's eye was twitching angrily. I sighed.

"It's more efficient, guys. Let's go." I replied. Leo huffed, but crept out with the rest of us.

"Thanks, sis." He said a little reluctantly. I smiled back. We arrived at the van in seconds, Raph somehow opening the van before I could. I tensed, preparing to leap in front of Raph if lasers came pouring out, then relaxed as nothing happened, and...

WHAT? What is...oh. Oh, no. That glowing blue canister...

 _As if in slow-motion, the canister fell to the ground, smashing open. The strange thick liquid splashed over me, and it felt hot, like I was back in front of my house as it burned to the ground, and I felt panic fill me. It was all over in seconds, but it felt so much longer, it burned so bad! I could not talk, I could not move, all I was knew was pain._

That canister was what mutated me and brought me so much pain and change! Panic settled in, and I could only watch as it rolled toward Mikey. I tensed as Mikey leaned over. His eyes were _too_ curious...

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" I screeched, dragging Mikey away from it, grabbing Lupa as I did so.

"Asami...what the..?" Was the question that everyone asked, but I didn't care. That stuff was _dangerous_! No way I'm letting my family touch that thing! Mikey seemed to clue in.

"...Mom?" He breathed.

"What's going on?!" Lupa demanded.

If only they knew...that was the same stuff that mutated me! It's too dangerous to even go near!

 **HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS! I HAVE A LOT OF FUN WRITING THIS. OH, AND ASAMI WAS SO YOUNG WHEN HER LIFE WAS UPHEAVED LIKE THAT, SHE PROBABLY WOULD FORGET PORTIONS OF IT, LIKE THE ACTUAL MUTATION AND THINGS LIKE THAT. I DO TRY AND MAKE THINGS REALISTIC, NOT OVERLY DRAMATIC.**


	5. s01e01 prt 2

"Sorry for freaking you guys out, but _don't_ go anywhere _near_ that stuff!" I said, calming slightly. I wanted to smash it with every weapon I had, but...I knew that would only mutate me again, and I had _zero_ desire to see what I'd turn into, thank you very much!

"So that's the..." Leo breathed, staring transfixed at the glowing canister.

"Stuff that tuned us into what we are now." Don finished, voice wistful and distracted. I tensed, watching as Donnie picked it up and my siblings gathered around it. One wrong move...and we're mutated again! I swallowed, unwilling to make another scene, but really scared that something could happen to that canister. Really, really, _utterly_ terrified. Going through a mutation was bad enough the _first_ time. I didn't _ever_ want to go through it again. Mikey suddenly grinned wildly in a manner which meant he had some half-baked, hair-brained scheme in mind. I cringed, fearing I already knew what my brother would say.

"Let's drink some!" He chirped. I gawked at him, pulling him a little further away from the mutagen.

"Are you _insane_?!" I hissed. "That stuff isn't a _toy_ , Mikey! It's _dangerous_ and should _not_ be touched, much less _drank_. Clear?" Leo peeled me away, a look of fear and shock on his face. I then realized the death grip I had on my brother's shoulder and the wide eyes he was gazing at me with. So much for not making a scene...I instantly let go of my brother, who takes a reflexive step back. "Mikey...I'm really, _really_ sorry. I just...I still remember the _pain_ of my mutation. I never want _any_ of you to ever experience that."

"Again." Don added. I rolled my eyes.

" _Not_ the point! The mutagen is an unstable thing _at **best**_. We need to be extra careful not to let _anything_ happen to that canister." I reply, sounding a little sharper than I really meant. Oops!

"Besides, why would we even _think_ of drinking a random chemical we find on the street, in some freak-show's van?!" Raph demanded irately.

"Cus if you mutate a mutant..." Mikey started.

"You get a Super-Mutant!" Lupa finished. I growled and nearly smack my little siblings into next week, but barely refrained, settling for messaging my temples instead.

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk." Don snarked, before I could get a word out.

"Thank you! _Finally_ someone gets it!" I groan. I was rapidly calming down and had my voice under control now. No more yelling and sharp tones.

"Either way, it's an improvement." Raph muttered. I face-palmed.

"Did you _not_ hear my lecture on how mutagen is _dangerous_ and you are _never_ to touch it?" Raph merely shrugged.

"Guys, this is _huge!_ Whoever took those people are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago." Leo interjected, bringing us back to the matter at hand. I nodded, face grim, suppressed memories of those evil men flickering in front of my eyes.

"Yeah. Two of these guys were handling a canister exactly like that one when To-san and I were passing an alley on our way home from a pet store. They had a sewer manhole cover off and seemed about to pour the canister into the sewers." _How had I forgotten that?_ I wondered briefly. _I probably repressed it_. I reasoned.

"How is that possible?" Don asked. I rolled my eyes. Trust Don to analyze any and every thing.

"Doesn't matter." I muse. "It's in the past now." Mikey leaned in a little.

"Well, with freaky alien robots-"

"That want to eat your face!" Lupa interjected.

"-anything is possible." Mikey finished. I groaned. This was getting ridiculous, honestly.

"Stop that!" Don barked irritably. "There are _no_ such things as alien robots!" He growled. Mikey pouted, then his face morphed into a look of utter confidence. I had a bad feeling about this...

"Oh, yeah?" Mikey asked rhetorically, "Well, if there's no such things as alien robots...how do you explain _this_?!" Turns out, I was right to be worried! Mikey grabbed the driver, who had been trying to crawl away unnoticed as we talked...

Then tried to pull the man's _face_ off!

" _Mikey_!" I screamed. "What the _frick_?!" He merely kept tugging.

"He's pulling off the human disguise the alien's wearing." Lupa replied, in a perfectly calm tone, as if the answer should have been quite obvious. I frowned.

"This is going too far, you two!" I growl.

"This mask is glued on _tight_!" Mikey protested as the poor man struggled to get away. I took a step forward, but Leo spoke up before I could get to Mikey.

"Mikey, _stop_!" Leo ordered. "It's not a mask!" Mikey frowned, grabbed the guy by the top of the head, and gave one last tug before thrusting him away.

"Okay." He admitted. "He's in the clear, but those other guys were _totally_ alien robots!" He cried. I sighed heavily, smacking my forehead.

"Honestly, you two..." I grumbled.

" _Enough_!" Raph snapped, pushing past the gathered mutants (I was out of his way, off slightly to the side). I noticed he had the canister. My eyes widened, but I knew I couldn't make another scene by snatching it out of his hands and burning it with fire. "Time to get some answers!" He growled as he picked the man up by the collar of his shirt, menacing glare and canister inches from his face. "Who are you, and what's goin' on?" He spat. I blanched slightly. Was Raph seriously gonna threaten the guy with mutagen?! _How_ is this a—okay, well, it might be effective, but still...no. The guy frowned defiantly at us. I groaned. Not a good choice, guy. Don't defy Raph when he's in a mood. And I would say he's in a mood...

"The name's Snake, and I got nothin' to say to you hideous freaks." I glared daggers at the insolence within this 'Snake' as Raph pulled him closer, a devilish, menacing smirk on his face.

"Well, that's cus you don't know us yet." Raph replied. "You see, we were just regular guys, until we got hit with a little o' _this_." He growled, tossing the man down and into Don and Mikey's waiting restraint and coming closer. Snake's eyes widened, and fear crept into the scent of bravado he'd previously been excreting as Raph slowly opened the canister. I swallowed. Raph wouldn't dare...

Would he?

"Wh-what're yah doin'?" Snake demanded, flinching back to try and get away from the glowing chemicals. Raph only took a few steps closer.

"Playing a little game I like to call 'Mutation Roulette'." Raph explained, a dark sense of humor in his voice. "Now, you could turn out handsome, like me," He went on, leaning the canister slightly out and over Snake, who again tried to cringe away, "Or you might end up disgusting and deformed, like Mikey here." I spun on Raph.

"Don't be like that!" I hissed.

"Hey!" Mikey exclaimed, glowering at his older brother as Lupa stuck her tongue at Raph.

"Soo~...you feelin' lucky?" ...Did I mention Raph _adores_ Clint Eastwood? I didn't? Well, now you know. I flinched, barely refraining from snatching the mutagen away as it slithered and slowly slipped down the space toward Snake's face. Raph had a maniacal grin on his face as he kept tilting the canister. As soon as it got within an inch (or it seemed that way), Snake caved.

"Okay, _okay_!" He screamed, and the mutagen slopped back into the tube. "They call themselves the Kraang, and they've been grabbin' scientists from all over the city." I frowned in thought and disgust. Kidnapping? Really? What could they possibly want with scientists?

...And why would they name their group 'the Kraang', anyway? No self-respecting chump would ever join them, right?

"Well, that worked pretty good." Leo praised, standing beside Raph. Raph scoffed.

"Of course it did. Would you wanna look like Mikey?" I smacked Raph upside the head.

"I'm right here." Mikey whined.

" _Enough_ insulting Mikey!" I growled. Leo glared at the man and took a few menacing steps forward.

"What do they want with scientists?" He demanded, voice icy and dangerous.

"I don't know." Snake replied, sounding unconvincing. Raph frowned and shook the canister threateningly. Snake's eyes went wide in fear. He knew (or thought he knew) Raph would dump the canister on him if need be. "All I know is that they're taking them out of the city tonight, but I don't know where!" I cocked a brow. Really?

"You know, it would be _really_ unfortunate if you became some freakish combination of wolf and turtle, wouldn't you say?" Lupa asked nonchalantly, leaning against Raph's shoulder, pointing casually at the canister. Snake flinched back again. You'd think he'd have learned by now that struggling was pointless.

"Look, really! I don't know where they're taking the scientists! I'm not paid enough to ask!" He whimpered. Don suddenly giggled. We all sent him questioning looks.

"This is _awesome_!" He chirped gleefully. "That girl's dad is a scientist! _I'm_ a scientist! Oh, she is _so_ gonna like me!" I resisted the sudden urge to bang my head against a nearby wall. Oh, dear, sweet Donatello...

"I don't think you're her type." Snake muttered dryly. I jabbed him hard on the chest.

"You don't know that!" I snapped. Everyone moved to menace the guy even further with all six of us in his line of sight.

"Where are they _now_?" Leo growled.

=#=#=#=#=

Back on a rooftop again. Why? Because we are scoping out the freaking huge alien base right in front of us. That's why. _How did my life go so weird, so fast?_ I sigh inwardly as I turn to my youngest siblings.

"Alright, you two. I have an important job for you." I whispered conspiratorially. "You two are the guards for Snake here. If this is a bust, we need him to lead us to other bases. Okay?" They nodded smartly and stood to attention.

"Yes, ma'am!" They chirped in sync. "We won't take our eyes off him for a _second_!" Lupa added. They went over to the prisoner, glaring intensely at him. When he looked at them in return, they swung their weapons to further discourage any disobedience.

"You sure giving those two guard duty was a good idea?" Raph snorted. I nodded. A plan was forming in my head. For it to work, I needed to use the fact that my siblings have ADHD, and that Snake was gullible and liable to run. I hated it, but those were the facts. My siblings were amazing in their own way, but...they could also be the reason we fail a training exercise, among other things. It just got a bit much sometimes, but I knew it was just who they were.

"When they get distracted, follow my lead." I whisper. Raph looked confused, but nodded nonetheless.

"There's gotta be, like, twenty of them down there." Leo mused after a minute or two of scrutinizing the area below.

"At least." I agreed, leaning on the edge of the roof to get a better view.

"Yeah, and that's just the ones we can _see_." Don added grimly. Raph grinned wildly, spinning his sai eagerly.

"All right! An 'all you can beat' buffet!" He cheered. I smacked him upside the head.

"No!" He looked shocked, rubbing his head ruefully.

"We can't just rush in there. We need a plan." Leo argued before I could get a word in.

"Yeah." I agreed.

" _Why_?" Raph snapped. Don, annoyed, came stomping over angrily.

" _Think_ , you shell-brain!" He growled. "There are innocent lives at stake. If we screw this up, they're _goners_!"

"Then we won't screw it up." Raph replied impatiently, hands up in a 'duh' gesture.

"Boy, I can sure go for some of that pizza right about now, huh?" Mikey suddenly said, appearing behind us with his hands behind his head, dreamy expression on his face. _Go time_ , I thought inwardly. Prepping my hands over my tomahawks, I watched as my brothers stared at Mikey for a moment. I noticed that Lupa was watching YouTube on her phone. I groaned. That took less time than I thought.

"What?" Mikey asked innocently. I noted the lack of Snake, and starting inching toward the edge I heard him moving toward. Raph caught my gaze, and I cocked my head in the direction I was heading. He nodded subtly. "I can't be the only one that's hungry." Mikey went on. I rolled my eyes. He could eat in the midst of a bout with the flu, not even caring that he was sick and would just puke it all up in a few seconds, if we let him. I tap Lupa's shoulder. No response.

" _Lupa_." I growl, and she flinches, pulling an ear bud out hastily. I throw a thumb over my shoulder. Leo is glaring at Mikey.

"Where's Snake?" He asked impatiently. Mikey and Lupa blanched.

"Oh, boy..." Lupa groaned as Mikey said essentially the same thing. I raced over just as Snake leapt over the edge of the roof.

" _Get him_!" Leo orders as I'm flipping over the roof's edge and catching the guy on the chin, but he only stumbles slightly and continues heading down. He takes off sprinting as soon as he hit the ground. I take off after him, Leo and Raph right behind me. I'm nowhere near as good at this as Lupa, but I can smell his body odor and horrid cologne from here. It's coming from a dumpster nearby. I also hear his panting and a can falling. Leo follows My gaze and motions to get Raph's attention, nodding toward the alleyway. Raph nods subtly.

" _Dang-git!_ " I growl, trying to make it sound genuine. "We lost him."

"Yeah." Leo says, and his voice can't help but sound a but fake to me. "I can't believe we let him get away." Raph smirks.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! _You're_ the leader, and Asami's the eldest, so that means _you_ let him get away." He replies. Leo frowns.

"You're not helping." I roll my eyes, exasperatedly amused.

"Yeah, he is."

"No, actually, I'm not trying to help here." Raph replies. I resist the urge to groan. Leo rolls his eyes.

"Okay, okay. You want me to lead? _Fine_." He swallows once to make sure Snake will hear his next words. "I say we go back to the Lair, gear up, and at midnight we drive Snake's van right up to the gate. They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in."

"That could work." I agree. Raph grinned.

"And then we bust some heads?" Leo chuckled, but couldn't hide the grin.

"And then we bust some heads." He agreed.

"We'll need to, to get those poor people back." I add as we walk away.

"I love a happy ending!" Raph cheered. I rolled my eyes, but kept walking without any further reaction. Soon enough, we get back to the building with the roof we'd been standing on before. Mikey, Lupa, and Don are waiting.

"Why is Mikey beat up?" I ask, examining the small scratches and bruises over my baby brother's body. It's nothing major, and will be just hours in healing, but still... "You okay?" I ask gently. He shrugs.

"I guess. Just got tossed over a wall. I asked Don to throw me cus I thought—well, we thought—that Snake had gone that way. We were wrong." I smiled. I knew I had overreacted earlier, so I can give a bit of grace to balance it all out. Besides, this was forgivable, especially on their first night on the town.

"Well, alright then. So, let's head home. We've got some gearing up to do."

=#=#=#=#=

"Hey, Mikey, Lupa? Can I talk to you two real quick?" I asked as the pair lounged in the pit, watching Space Heroes with glazed eyes. Leo didn't even register that I had spoken. He is too addicted to that show, I swear...ugh. Anyway, I led my little siblings into the dojo. "I need to apologize for...for earlier. I definitely overreacted with the whole mutagen thing and for that I owe you a sincere apology. I am so sorry." I said. "It's just—no, please. Just...let me speak. I need to get this out—I have considered myself something of a mother figure to you all since I was old enough to have maternal instincts and...yeah. This was the first time you were threatened by something other than Raph. So, yeah...I'm _really_ sorry." I whimpered, shifting from foot to foot. This was hard enough without having to know Splinter was listening in from his room. Suddenly, I was bombarded with hugs.

"Aww~, sis." They chimed.

"It's totally cool!" Lupa said.

"Yeah, I mean it was a little weird, but it's nothing to worry about."

"So long as it doesn't happen again." Lupa says. I laugh, relieved.

"Yeah, deal." We head back as Don and Leo are discussing what exactly we'll need to get into that base. Soon enough, Don leaves and begins to build the needed gear. Meaning, shuko spikes. We'd never really had a need for them before. I sat with leo to brainstorm after turning off the TV ("Aw come on, sis! That was best part!" Leo had protested.) "Nuh-uh, mister. You're the leader now. You need to take this seriously, bro. Which means less Space Heroes and more mission planning." I'd replied. "Now...let's get crackin'. We do have a deadline to meet." After about five minutes of some fairly productive planning (most of which is guesswork and assuming nothing goes wrong, as we have no idea what to expect when we get in there), I hear Raph in the kitchen, talking to his cute little pet turtle, Spike. Spike and I, shockingly, shared a fairly sibling-like bond, which is a little odd, considering that he never responded or even gave off emotion, but I sometimes need to talk, and he's the best listener there is. Raph expresses his worry about the unknowns of the mission ahead. I see Mikey heading in, but am too late to stop him. I sigh and return to planning.

"Okay...I think that's about all we can do here." Leo mused after a moment. I nod.

"Yeah, pretty much, considering that we don't know what to expect in there, other than a crapload of guys and no idea where that family even is."

"But even so," Leo replies, smiling, "I think this plan is gonna work." I nod in agreement. Not bad at all. A short ways away, Raph is chasing Mikey with a spoon, threatening to smack, slap, or beat Mikey into a pulp. I roll my eyes, even as Master Splinter approaches.

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It is how you adjust to the unexpected that will determine if you and your siblings succeed." He cautions, but his face betrays his pride in his children. Leo stands, face consternated suddenly.

"Sensei...do you think I'm ready for this? I mean...isn't Asami a better choice? After all, she's older and...she's kinda our mom, and-"

"Doesn't want to be a leader." I interject, standing as well. "Leo, really. The leader position is all yours. You'll be great. I know it."

"Asami is correct, Leonardo. I made you leader for a reason." Dad adds, placing a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder. "And not just because Asami refused the position." Leo frowns.

"What _is_ that reason?" He asks. Sensei smiles.

"That is for _you_ to discover on your own." He replies. Leo groans.

"Asami can't give me a hint?" I laugh.

"Nah. I don't even know. I do have theories, though, ones that will _not_ be disclosed at the moment." I reply.

"Even a small, teensy one?"

" _No_."

"You're worse than Splinter sometimes." Leo grumbles. I snort.

"Oh, grow up, bro. Disappointment is a part of life." Splinter just shakes his head at us. Leo sighs.

"I know. But, back to the matter at hand, there's _so much_ riding on this." He mumbles nervously. "What if something goes wrong?" Splinter sighs.

"Failure is a possibility every leader must face, Leonardo. It is something I had to face in Japan, in my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder." He grimaces. I do, too, the memories flashing before our eyes. "Many years ago, Oruko Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend. But the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealousy turned outward in a vengeful attack."

"In the middle of the night, I might add." I add bitterly in a growl. Sensei nods, but doesn't stop talking.

"And, while he could not defeat _me_ that day, my world fell and crumbled around me. I lost my beloved Tang Shen, and my baby daughter, Miwa." I feel hot pricks in the corners of my eyes. I had never known a mother's presence, her soft voice singing me to sleep, comforting me when I need it, all because of one man's jealous attack. Leo took a hesitant step forward. The resurgence of memories had ended with dad leaning against the tree for support against the wave of emotions he battled through.

"But _that's_ my point, Sensei. You lost _everything_."

"I lost many things that day. My family, My home...my name." I sucked in a breath. It hurt to see Dad like this...truly. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"..." But I could think of nothing to say. Dad sighed and resumed a straighter, tougher posture, clearing his throat subtly.

"But, I gained many things as well. Like the five of you."

"And that's why we don't wish for anything to change, or dwell on the past. It does nothing to affect the present but sour your mood." I add, shrugging to hide the ache I still felt. Suddenly, Lupa, Raph and Mikey sprint past us, Raph screaming that he'll pummel Mikey, Lupa screaming at Raph to stop, and Mikey just plain screaming. "Don't worry. I'm happy to help you keep those goof-balls in line, bro." I chuckle after a moment, leaning on my brother and leader's shoulder. Leo patted My shoulder.

"Thanks, sis." I smile down at him.

"Now, let's go get that family and put a stop to...whatever it is."

=#=#=#=#=

"Not so fast! Not so fast!" I squeak, gripping my seat in terror.

"Relax, Asami. I've been reading about this for the five minutes before we left." Came Don's smart-butt reply. I deadpan.

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Nope."

"I'm going to smack you."

"Sure, and then we'll crash and have to think of another plan." I scowl and growl, but know he was right, so I sulk in my seat and glare out the windshield. Soon enough, we've arrived at the base. Out of sight of the men on the ramparts, we slip out. Don leans in and secures the steering wheel before dropping the brick on the gas pedal. We all leap aside and sprint to the wall. That will only buy us a few seconds when it hits the wall, most likely. We slipped our shuko spikes on and start climbing. Seconds after the explosion, we all stop for a moment to view our handiwork.

"That worked out better than expected." I muse. Don nods. Mikey chuckles.

"Wow. Good thing that van showed up to distract them." He chirps. Donnie groans and smacks his face, then cries out as the spikes hit his face.

"Yeah, right?" Lupa agreed. Leo scowled down at them.

"That was the plan, you two." He said in an overly patient tone, but it was clear he didn't have any real patience for this. "Raph, Asami, and I knew Snake was hiding in the alley, so we made him _think_ we'd be in the van."

"Doesn't matter now, guys. We gotta go before the distraction wears off." I whisper. If we were going to go in, and we needed to, we needed to do it sooner than later.

"But...wait..." the pair mutter, thinking. "We weren't in the van." I release a deep breath to relax. _Just breath...in, out._

"Just keep climbing." Leo orders tersely. Mikey and Lupa grin back at him, carefully forming a fist around the shuko spikes and sticking a thumb up in the air.

"Can do!" They chirped. I chuckle at their enthusiasm. We were over the wall moments later, racing toward the main building. I looked around, painfully aware of the lack of cover available. So far, everyone in sight's attention was still on the flames encompassing the gate and surrounding area. Good. The longer this distraction can go on, the higher our chances of success. We sneak up to the metal walls and I notice a ventilation cover just above us. I nudge Leo, and nod up to the vent. He nods and we enter the building that way, crawling toward the sound of a young woman's voice, grumbling something indistinct. We find ourselves waiting for a patrol to pass and then the cover is off. Leo and Raph deal with two stragglers with swift and silent blows. Something about this place unsettles me, as I walk down a hallway. The metal walls seem to close in slightly. This metal...doesn't seem like ordinary steel or iron...this is something else entirely.

"Wow. I've never seen anything like this. They're using a metal alloy that...I don't even recognize." Don chirps. I roll my eyes.

"Regardless, being in an enemy lair makes me nervous. Anything can happen. Let's just get that family and get outta here." I grumble, fingering my weapon handles nervously.

" _Gosh_! A metal alloy even _you_ don't know about? It _boggles_ the mind." Raph snarks. I sigh.

"Raph, knock it off." I snap.

" _Dude_. You wanna talk metallurgy with _me_?" Don growls. " _Bring it_." He challenges. I place a hand on Don's shoulder.

"I don't, and-" Leo suddenly interjects before Raph can finish.

" _Guys_!" He hisses. "What part of 'being in an enemy lair' did you _not_ understand?" He snaps. We continue creeping down the hall, only to round a corner and find...

What _are_ they?! The things have metal bodies covered in a blue-tinted membrane of some kind, and...in the chest (right where Mikey said they would be)...what I can only describe as anthropomorphic brains!

"Mikey, Lupa, I take back my _slight_ doubt about your story earlier. I take it _all_ back." I whimper. "What _are_ those things?" Lupa opens her mouth, but Don beats her to speaking.

"Whoa...alien robots!" He breaths. Mikey snaps his head to look at his brother.

"'Alien robots', huh?" He repeats. "Hmm...where have I heard that before..?" He muses. I know what's coming and attempt to assuage him.

"Okay, Mike. You were right. Just...don't say ano-"

"Oh, _yeah_!" He snaps. "I've been sayin' it for _hours_!" He screams. I groan, face-palm, and draw my weapons in a single breath.

"Great job, Mikey! We've just lost the element of surprise!" I snap. We charge forward and find the robots fairly easy to deal with. I slice about three, all told, before the fight is over. All around me, bits and pieces of these creepy things liter the floor. We all turn and watch as Leo calmly takes two down. We walk over as the last one deactivates. Suddenly, the brain things lunges toward us, roaring evilly. I stumble back, a small scream ripping from My throat. Lupa and Mikey leap forward and smack it with their weapons and it slumps, unconscious. Mikey grabs the tentacle-things it used to move, holding it up and shoving it in our face angrily.

"See?!" He snaps. " _See_?! It's a brain-thing! I told you! I _told_ you, but did any of you believe me? _No_!"

"Okay, Mike. You've made you point. Just drop it." Lupa advises, pointing to the ground. The thing stirs slightly. I gulp.

"You all think I'm some kinda bone-head!" Mikey continues.

"Mikey, look out!" I yell, just as the thing bites his fingers before moving to his arm. He starts flinging the brain around to get it off. I sheath my tomahawks and take a step forward. "Wait, Mikey! Hold still and I'll-" Too late, the brain soars off, and directly onto a button that sets off a blaring alarm. I cringe and clutch my ears. " _Mikey_!" We all scream, though he couldn't have meant to trip the alarm. He turns to find us glaring daggers at him.

"Okay, but I was still right about the brain thing. You gotta give me that!" He retorts.

"Fine, but we need to go!" I growl, grabbing Lupa's wrist. "Come on!" I run a few steps before halting, no idea where I'm going. "Uh..." I release Lupa and look to Don.

"I think those are power conduits." He notes, sensing all our eyes on him.

"Really? That's really interesting, Donnie." Raph snaps sarcastically. "Thanks for sharing."

"Shuttup, Raph! I think he's on to something!" I retort angrily. Don nods in appreciation.

"Meathead!" Don growls. "The pipes seem to be converging in _that_ direction." He explains, gesturing the way he means. "Which means that whatever's going on in _that_ direction is _important_!"

"Let's just get moving!" I add. We take off, following the pipelines on the ceiling. Suddenly, I get a hit of a human scent for the first time since entering this complex. I grab Don's shoulder and we turn around. Looking into a cell emanating with the scent, we spot the humans. I wave. They don't wave back, shock and confusion written on their faces.

"We found 'em!" Don calls. Before he can say anything to the humans inside, or begin to get the door open, shots ring through the halls and several droids come racing toward us. We draw our weapons and prepare to charge.

"We'll hold them off, you pick the lock!" Leo calls.

"Don't worry. I'll have you outta there in a second." Don says. I hover nearby to fend off any droids that get through the guys. Don gives the human girl a small smile of reassurance. I roll My eyes and slice the arms off a droid before decapitating it easily.

"Okay, giant lizard thing." The girl replies uncertainly.

"Trust us, miss. You'll be back home on no time." I add, pushing a droid back and slicing it in half. "If my brother would just _get_ _going already_!" I snap. Don fiddles with his fingers, blushing furiously.

"T-turtle, actually. M-m-my name's Donatello." I groan. More and more droids are getting through.

"Don!" I growl, but his attention is still on the humans.

"April." The girl tells him, as if she actually doesn't mind that she's talking to a giant turtle.

"Asami." I add politely. "Now we're all introduced, would you just _pick the lock_?!" I growl at Don.

"'April'. Wow. That's a pretty-Urgh!" He groans as Leo crashes into his shell, smushing his face into the window of the cell.

"The _lock_ , Donnie!" He growls, before heading back into the fray.

"Oh, r-right, yeah." He mutters. Frazzled, Don takes the cover off and gets a look at the lock within. He fiddles with the wires as I flip over three droids, slicing with my ninjaken and taking them all out at once. I hope Don gets the cell open soon. These things just keep coming!

"Not to rush you, but...hurry up!" April squeaks.

"Hey, you think it's easy trying to pick a lock with _these_ hands?" Don retorts.

"Sorry." April mumbles. Raph takes down a few more droids and ends up in front of the cell.

"Oh, fer the love of—outta my way!" He growls, shoving Don aside and stabbing the inside of the lock furiously. Miraculously, it opens. However, droids had already gotten into the cell from the other end and have the prisoners within out before we got there. Droids come from behind us, so we run through the hall and find an exit just ahead. We burst through and turn to find the droids behind us already nearly at the door we'd just exited. Raph slams the door and uses it to chop an arm off, sliding the metal piece through the handles on the double doors to keep them closed.

"Guess that's _hand_ led, huh?" Lupa quips. I groan. Mikey, however, chuckles.

"No. Just...no." The other look at Raph.

"What?" He asks.

"You are seriously twisted." Leo replies. I cock a brow, a little confused. What did _that_ mean?

"Thanks." Raph says with a grin. Above us, we hear April cry out.

"Let's get 'em!" Leo barks and we charge. I hardly notice the tree we're...wait...what?! It...moved?! What the frick?! It honestly looked like a tree just a second ago. I'll admit, a funny-looking tree, but still...that thing is creepy!

"Awesome!" Lupa chirps. "We're facing a living tree!" She squeals. I growl.

"Lupa, this is _so far_ from awesome..." I reply.

" _You_ did this to me!" The thing rasps. "Now you're going to _pay_!"

"Wait...what?" Lupa and I ask before realization hits. Oh, boy...

"It's Snake!" Leo muses. "He mutated into a...giant weed!"

" _Obviously_!" I reply. "My question is how did..." I suddenly turn on my younger siblings. "I thought I told you guys _not_ to leave the mutagen in the van!" They pale.

"You did?" I roll my eyes and massage my temples.

"Oh my gosh...you guys had _one_ job!" I hiss. They shrug as Snake tries and fails to walk toward us.

"Huh. Weird. You'd think he'd get mutated into a giant snake." Mikey mused.

"Yeah..." Lupa agrees.

"If you were an _idiot_!" Raph barks. Mikey frowns.

"But his _name_ is Snake." I face-palm.

"So?" Raph growls back.

"You don't understand science." Lupa retorts, crossing her arms moodily.

"That's not how mutagen works." I mutter.

"I'll _crush_ you mutants!" Snake screams, somehow splitting his trunk into different legs and stomping toward us.

"Uh...Would it help if we said it was an accident?" Don asks, only to get a screech and threatening posture in reply. We back up, weapons clutched nervously in our hands. "So...heh-heh...I'll put you down for a 'no'?" He squeaks. Snake swings his...hand, I guess, at us and we either duck or jump. Leo then leaps up and slices the thing clean off. Snake roars in pain and purple goop comes spraying out. Mikey, sitting on his butt on the concrete, scoots away from the offending liquid.

"Ew, ew, don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" Mikey cries. One splotch ends up hitting his thigh. He shrieks. "It touched me!"

"Oh, get over it! You're _fine_!" Lupa whines, literally dripping with the purple goo. I barely hold in a chuckle, but then it fades and I flinch back as the thing Leo chopped off suddenly regrows from the severed limb. " _Seriously_?!" Lupa screeches. " _How_ is this fair?!"

"It isn't. Just deal with it." I reply grimly, preparing to weed-whack this thing so hard, he wouldn't be able to reform. I suddenly hear a helicopter powering up. From here, I can just see April's scared, desperate face.

"Donnie, Ami, go!" Leo says, sheathing his katana as he preparing to boost us up closer to the platform. I am watching Don soar upwards before taking a breath, backing up a tad, and sprinting forward, landing my foot on Leo's intertwined hands, and feeling a rush of adrenaline as I'm flying through the air, landing with a roll on the platform just as the helicopter takes off. We take off and leap up toward the second platform, the one the helicopter had been on. April leans forward inside, pressing her hand to the window in a call for help.

"Asami, on my shell." Don growls. I blink. I have no doubt Don can carry my weight. _That's_ not the problem. The problem is that he would be trying to get enough momentum to swing out _over the building_ into _thin air_ , and then proceed to grab onto a _moving_ helicopter _with me on his shell_!

"You-"

"No time!" Don barks. "Let's go." I nod. If _Don_ was suggesting it, he at least thought we stood a reasonable chance, right?

"Okay." I reply, even as I lightly jump up and wrap my arms as loose as possible around his neck and tighten my legs around his shell. He takes off, and I have a fairly hard time hanging on as we fly again. I let go and barely catch the bar. "Freakiest thing I've ever done." I whimper, hanging on for dear life, heart pounding out of my ribs. I move to get a better grip on the bar and feel a little more confident. Suddenly, the doors open and two Kraag (right? I can't remember) droids lean out, guns ready to fire.

"Oh, good!" Don snaps. "For a second there, I thought this was to be _too_ easy!" He growls sarcastically. I scowl and try to kick him, just as the copter turned and I nearly slipped, but regained my handle on the bar.

" _Now_ you think of that?!" I snap. "Would have helped _before_ we decided to hang from a _moving_ helicopter!" He merely huffs irritably at me. Grabbing a shuriken, we place them between our toes, and I have to swing under the helicopter, dodge Don as he does the same, and then flip around and swing up to slam the metal weapon into the skull of the offending droid. Okay, two down out of the...six, four droids (didn't get a good look) inside. Awesome! Now...how do we get the rest out and us in so we can (hopefully) land this thing?! "AAHHH!" I scream as the droids we'd downed spin in midair and fire at us. The helicopter tilts and spins wildly, causing April to be tossed from it. I catch her hand, but just barely. I strained to keep my grip without digging my claws into her wrists. "Don! Little help?" I ask, trying to pull the girl up so she can get her own grip. Unfortunately, I tried to move too fast, and the girl was sweaty from adrenaline and terror. "Hurry!" I cry. Don bites his lip.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" He replies, too late, as her hand slips helplessly from my fingers.

"NO!" I exclaim, but Don's already on it. He lets go of the rail, grabs April in mid-air, and proceeds to flip off protruding sections of the building below before sliding a few feet and halting there. I, however, am not so lucky. I am thrown off the helicopter rail, hit the bridge connecting the building to the heli-pad-thing, roll off that, then slam into the wall before landing on my butt. "Ooowww..." I groan, picking myself shakily to my feet.

"Y-you okay?" Don asks us worriedly. I clutch my pounding head, but give him a thumbs up. I'd be okay in a second.

"Yeah...jes'...jes' give me a seond."

"Dad..." April whimpers, glancing at the helicopter fading into the night sky above us. We head toward the sounds of battle, and find Snakeweed being fired upon by several Kraang droids, my brother dodging the bolts all the while...oh, crap.

"What are they _doing_?!" Don snaps. "They're leading him right to that power generator!"

"Yeah, got that." I reply, mystified as Leo pulls out shuriken, using them to get Snakeweed's attention.

"Come and get me, Stinkweed!" He cries childishly, wriggling his fingers in front of his face in a obvious taunt. However, it works and Snakeweed is soon under Leo's feet as he then taunts the Kraang who fire at him, or (more accurately) the generator's casing. Oh, crap...

Snakeweed screeches in agony as the electricity courses through him and then there's an almighty _BOOM_ as the generator exploded before us, showering us with bits of Snakeweed. Leo grabs April's shoulder as we stand there in shock that it actually worked. Shaking ourselves, Don and I take off after our siblings.

=#=#=#=#=

"Is there anywhere we can take you?" I ask when we're far enough away. April sighs heavily and turns to face us. She hasn't said a word since Don caught her fall.

"...My aunt's house, I guess, but...sh-shouldn't I call the police or something?" I flinch, but April is quick to clarify. "About my dad, not...not you guys. I would _never_ do that." I smile faintly at her.

"That's up to you. Sorry...about everything." Don whispers, awkwardly putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him and sighs again.

"It's not your fault. You...you tried. No one else even knew we went missing, and...and no one else would have been willing to storm an alien base just to get us back."

"But still." I sigh, and decide to just drop the matter. "At least we know the Kraang are out there, and have a general idea of what they're planning. Now, where does you're aunt live, exactly?" April gives us an address, and we're off. As soon as possible, we enter the sewers, where we can get to April's aunt's house faster.

"Why are we in the sewers?" April asks as we descend.

"The Kraang aren't as likely to search down here, and we know it better than topside." I reply, counting ladders we pass. At the fifteenth one, I notice a figure coming slowly down into the sewers. I motion for everyone to draw back into the shadows. I creep forward, and grab the figure, slamming it against the side of the tunnel, dimly noting it was male. I take it in, and... "Dao?!" I hiss incredulously. "What are you doing here?!" He pushes me back a little.

"Geez, Ami! I was scouting out Kraang bases, and when I saw the fire...well...I saw you all earlier. So..." I cock a brow.

"So you decided to...what? Keep us company?" He shrugs.

"Something like that." He replies. I sigh.

"Okay." Everyone had, by now, come out of hiding, and were ready to move along.

"Hey, Dao." Lupa greets.

"Let's just keep moving." Leo orders. It's clear he's uncomfortable and unused to this situation.

"April, this is our friend, Dao." I introduce, even as we begin moving again. "Dao, this is April, a girl we rescued tonight." Soon enough, we are where April told us her aunt lived. I went up the ladder first to make sure the area was clear. We arrive at a small apartment complex, one a lot like the flat roofs I've leapt over for five years. I wonder if I have raced across the roof of the building we race toward. as we shadow April across the road. April buzzes her aunt's intercom, and an older redhead, this red a little lighter, the eyes a forest green instead of pale sapphire blue, answers the door. Soon enough, April disappears into the building and she, after a few minutes, appears on a window sill on the fire escape, motioning us over. Cautiously, we approach, and she just slumps down, dejection pouring off her. I motion Don over. I know he wants to talk to her, and so...here's an opportunity for him to do just that.

"Are you gonna be alright?" He asks timidly.

"I guess." She replies slowly. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want. But I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad." She growls, suddenly fierce and determined, knuckles white on her knees.

"Won't the police help?" Leo asks. April gives a bitter chuckle.

"Funny thing; when you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies...they don't take you all that seriously."

"Ouch." I sympathize.

"I hear that." I roll my eyes at Mikey.

"But, seriously, April...you know...we're here to help." She blinks.

"Yeah." Don agrees. "I promise we won't rest until we find him." He adds. I smile. Oh, Don. You are literally too cute. But, yeah.

"We won't?" Raph asks snarkily. I make a cutting gesture across my neck.

"No, we won't." Leo barks tersely. April sighs.

"Thank you." She says genuinely. "But it's not your fight."

"Yes, it is." Don replies seriously, hand comfortingly on April's knee. She gives him a warm, touched smile. He shyly backs away.

"We were raised to defend ourselves and those too weak to protect themselves. That means stopping whatever the Kraang want those scientists for, and protecting this city from future plans of theirs." I add before we leave.

"I totally think she likes me." Don whispers to me as soon as we're on the roof and he waves to April, still fighting down the blush he's had since April smiled at him. I pat his shoulder.

"Oh, I think 'like' is slightly strong...but she's definitely warming up to us." I reply. We run across the roofs and down through the sewers, arriving home soon enough. "Sensei, we're home!" I call. I knew he wouldn't be able to sleep with _all of us_ out in the city, and facing an entire base of Kraang droids. Sure enough, he's out to see us in a heartbeat, smiling warmly and with no small amount of relief. I grab Leo and we head into the Dojo to give a report. It's a mix of both our sides,and so Sensei gets a fuller picture of what happened. He stands still through our story, frowning when I tell him about the Kraang and how they are connected to our mutation so many years ago.

"I am impressed, Leonardo." He praises. "Asami, you performed admirably, as well, even under the most difficult of circumstances." he adds. I smile.

"Arigato, Otousan. (Thank you, Father.)" I reply. Sensei nods, turning to listen to Mikey telling Dao about our night.

"Thank you, Sensei. And I think I know why you made me leader."

"Oh?" Sensei asks, amused. He spared me a sideways glance, and I throw my hands up.

"I didn't tell him." Leo scowls.

"Still wish she did, but no. Because you sensed inside me a warrior spirit that could forge us all into the heroes we are destined to become." I blink. Oh, Leo... I laugh, and cover my mouth to try and stifle it.

"No." Sensei says, still not facing us.

"'No'?" Leo repeats, shocked. "Then, why _did_ you make me leader?" He asks.

"Because you asked." Splinter replies, smiling. Leo leans back a little in confusion.

"But...you seemed so certain you were right."

"As a leader, you will learn that there is no right or wrong, only choices."

"So...You could have chosen any of us, Asami aside?" He adds, seeing my scowl.

"Yes."

"Even Mikey?!" Splinter chuckles.

"No, that would have been wrong."

"You kinda contradicted yourself there, da-"

"Everybody, come here!" Mikey screamed. "We made the news!" He chirps. I pale. There's so way...right? I sprint out, just as the report starts.

" _A report of, get this, ninjas in New York! Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."_ The screen then showed a Hamato clan shuriken in a corner. I facepalm.

"At least it's not a picture."? I groan.

"You were fortunate." Splinter replies. I quail slightly.

"Hai, Sensei."

"This is awesome!" Mikey chirps.

"We're gonna be famous!" Lupa adds. I groan.

"You guys, this is serious! If there was a picture...we'd be dead."

"You must be more careful!" Sensei barks. "A ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought into the light is a dangerous thing." He cautions. I shiver. No need to remind me. He;s told us all our lives about the dangers of being seen by any humans. Although, April and her dad were nice...

"Relax, Sensei. It's one little news story. What' the worst that could happen?" For some reason, I get another shiver up my spine. This is the part of the movie where the villain then sees that 'one little news story' and learn that his enemies are alive, and he then attempts to get revenge.

"I dunno, Raph..." I whisper, more to myself. "I hope this bad feeling is just me being paranoid..."

 **HEH-HEH...OH, ASAMI. YOU SHOULD TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS MORE OFTEN...HEH. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOYED! SORRY FOR MAKING ASAMI FREAK OUT ABOUT THE MUTAGEN. IT'S HOW I'D REACT IF SOMETHING THAT CAUSE ME SO MUCH PAIN RESURFACED AND MY SIBLINGS DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS HARMFUL...YEAH. ANYWAY, I DID MAKE HER APOLOGIZE AND EXPLAIN, SO...SORRY NOT SORRY! LOVE Y'ALL!**


	6. S01E03 Turtle Temper

**ALRIGHTY! THIS WAS REQUESTED (BACK WHEN I WAS JUST GOING TO DO REQUESTS FOR ASAMI AND LUPA'S INSERTION) BY A GUEST NAMED LISA. WELCOME TO THE FAM, LISA! THIS IS YOUR CHAPTER. HOPE YOU LIKE IT. BTW, THERE WILL BE JAPANESE SPOKEN BETWEEN ASAMI AND SPLINTER. THE STORY WILL DETERMINE HOW MUCH, THOUGH. TRANSLATIONS ARE DIRECTLY BESIDE THEM IN PARENTHESES, HOWEVER. ENJOY!**

 **OH, AND SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS TAKEN DOWN FOR A WHILE. I WAS RE-DOING THE ORIGINS, TRYING TO GET IT JUST RIGHT AND THEN IT TURNED INTO A THREE-CHAPTER AFFAIR, AND ALL, TAKING OVER THE REQUESTED CHAPTERS...SORRY, LISA.**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER**

 _Here we are, on a tip from April, waiting for a lab break-in that I personally don't think is likely to happen. I mean, how could April know where the Kraang are gonna be, right? Anyway...this roof is cold, and Lupa is irritating me to high heavens! Poking my side every ten seconds, as I'm trying to watch for a tell-tale white van to appear so Donnie and April won't look like idiots. Lupa just doesn't get it._

"Lu-Lu, _cut it out_!" I growl quietly for the fifteenth time, receiving only a giggle from my sister once again. I push her back, and refocus my attention on the ground below.

"Anything?" Leo asks, although he should be able to see for himself that nothing has happened yet. I sigh. My irritation was at my own boredom, not at my siblings.

"Nope." I grumble, stretching to relieve my sore muscles.

"Nothin' yet." Donnie adds, and pulls the telescope he was using back to his eye. Bored, I turn at the sound of Mikey and Lupa's giggling. Mikey was tapping the top of Raph's head as often as Lupa had poked me, and every time, Raph would swat his hand aside, and the youngest two mutants would giggle. Then Raph caught Mikey's hand, opening his eyes but not moving anything but his hand and arm from his position, leaning against the skylight. Mikey cried out sharply, and Lupa giggled yet again.

"Serves you right." Me and Lupa comment wryly.

" _Guys_! When ninjas are on surveillance, they are supposed to be _silent_!" Leo growls, turning to let everyone see his angry face ( _which I find so adorable_ ). Mikey turns toward Leo with his innocent grin.

"Sorry, Leo. I'll scream quieter." He says, before tapping Raph's head after high-three-ing Lupa.

"That wouldn't help, Mikey." I whispered, just as Raph, as exasperated as I was, caught Mikey's hand and threw him over his shoulder. Raph was on top of Mikey in a flash. He had Mikey in a loose-ish choke hold, glaring menacingly at his little brother.

"Say it." Raph demanded. I rolled my eyes.

"Raph, be quiet!" Leo and I reprimanded simultaneously.

"Not till Mikey says it!" Raph replied. Mikey sighed.

"Raphael is all wise and powerful!" He said. Raph then twisted his head a bit. Oh, boy. That looked like it _hurt._

"And?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way." Mikey continued. Raph then squashed his brother beneath himself. Lupa squeaked and tried, to no avail, to get Raph off Mikey.

" _And_?"

"And I'm a lowly worm beneath his feet who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him cause he's so amazing and I'm a dirt-clod!" Raph licked his finger, and threatened to give his brother a wet wily.

" _ **And**_?" Raph repeated, increasing the amount of force put into his words.

"In the history of the universe there's never been-" Mikey started, sounding desperate to avoid the wet willy. Leo cut the amusing show off, however.

"Okay, _enough_!" I rolled my eyes. This was just what Leo should have expected after around an hour and a half on a chilled rooftop without any stimuli. Raph groaned.

"We're wasting our time! The Kraang aren't gonna show up!" Raph complained. I shot Raph an agreeing look, which he didn't see. Leo just stared at his brother evenly.

"Have a little patience, will ya?"

"Trust me, guys. They're gonna break into that lab tonight. I have reliable intel." Donnie noted 'helpfully.'

"'Intel?'" Raph repeated. I knew where this was going. "You mean, _April_ told you." he pointed out, pointing a finger at Don, evil smirk wide.

"Knock it off, Raph..." I grumble. Mikey then popped up right behind his purple clad brother.

"You mean you're girlfriend?" Mikey and Lupa chimed together, hands clasped beneath their chins, batting their eyelashes, or at least where they should be, if they had any proper ones. I turned my glare to the two troublemakers.

"You, too, guys." I growl, even as Donnie looked ready to pop with rage. He suddenly whirled on his younger siblings, sending them twin death glares.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend, guys!" He nearly shouted. Leo, Raph, Lupa, Mikey and I all shared knowing glances and grins. "She's a girl, who's a friend, who's dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are gonna break into that lab. And we're gonna stop them!" Donnie continued, hardly stopping for breath. Raph then rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Or we'll sit out on a cold roof all night for no reason."

"It's not that cold, Raph." I reply wryly.

"Uh, Ami, we have permanent fur coats on. Hardly anything seems cold or hot for us." Lupa added, grinning slyly. I laughed, then stopped as I heard a door opening. An incredibly fat and old looking man in a grimy tank-top, scruffy jeans and old sandals was standing in the doorway.

"What the heck's goin' on up 'ere?" He asked no one in particular. We all froze, blinking at the man, knowing it wasn't dark enough to fully hide our appearances. Me and Lupa gulped, hard. Splinter was gonna _kill_ us..."What are ya? Playin' dress up?" The man asked, proving what I had just guessed about it not being dark enough. Leo and I chuckled nervously.

"N-no sir, we're just-" Leo stammered, then came crashing to a halt.

"P-praticing for Halloween!" I finished, hoping I sounded convincing enough. The man didn't even seem to notice us, directing his gaze at the crushed satellite dish directly behind us.

"Which one uh ya slimy green hamshanks, or hairy little meatballs busted my satellite dish?!" He demanded, posture commanding as well as threatening, which made a somewhat amusing picture, if not for the fact that he had seen us. And would probably blab about us to all his fat little buddies in this building. My eyes were twitching. Was this guys serious?!

"'Hamshanks?!'" Raph repeated, sounding both angered and confused.

"'Hairy little meatballs'?!" Lupa added, also angry. I just scowled.

"I don't even know what that means." Donnie remarked, rubbing his temple thoughtfully. I raised my finger.

"It's a hunk of-" I started to explain, but Raph cut me off. The finger dropped as I pouted.

"Me neither...but I don't like it!" Raph growled, hand reaching for his sais for a second before Leo grabbed his wrist.

"Let's go." Leo said, as I grabbed Lupa's wrist, pulling her along as I walked toward the edge.

"That's right, ya spineless cream puff!" I froze. That guy was seriously wishing for a sai up his face. I could tell by Raph's tense, angry posture as he, too, froze, eye twitching slightly. I sighed, even as I spun slowly around to watch this play out. "Listen to ya mommy!" The man taunted, to which Raph drew his sai, getting into a defensive stance, pointing the weapons at the man.

" _Hey_! Watch it, buddy!" Raph growled, literally. The man simply clapped his hands to either side of his face.

"You, sir, have a death wish." I mumble, slapping my forehead.

"Yep." Lupa confirms.

"Oh, _no_! I didn't know you had salad tongs!"The man retorted, hands now pressed dramatically to his chest.

"You do realize those 'salad tongs' could kill someone if said person continues to irritate the owner?" I asked, pointing nervously to the sai, and Raph, who only looked angrier, if at all possible.

"'Salad tongs'?!" Raph was going nuclear, and this guy was still not getting the hint. "I'm not gonna take this from some grease-stained slob!" Raph shouted as he charged forward, not even caring about anything else until I grabbed his wrist.

"He's not worth your anger, Raph." I hiss.

"I'm so gonna total this ugly little-!" Raph growls, snatching his hand back.

"Oh, you're calling me ugly?! Looked in the mirror lately, circus freak?!" The man taunted, cutting Raph off, arms crossed over his chest defiantly. I stared in shock, hands itching toward my tomahawk handles. I had been able to stay reasonably in control of my emotions til he called my brother a circus freak. An unknown rage and fury boiled under my skin, and I suddenly understood why Raph was so mad.

"You did _not_ just call my brother a circus freak!" I growl, tensing with anger. Thankfully, my siblings did not understand what that word meant. If he did...it would be bad. I took a step toward the guy before realizing that I was simply falling for this guy's taunts, like he wanted. I took a deep breath before helping to hold Raph back as he tried to charge the insolent man before him. I mentally slapped myself for leading my hot tempered brother on about this stupid guy's taunts. His eyes were almost literally blazing with fury.

"You wanna piece of me?!" the guy challenged. Raph strained against our arms, eyes now blazing with anger.

"When I'm done, a _piece_ of you is all that's gonna be left-" He was interrupted by the purple plasma bolt that fired from an unmistakeable gun. We pulled Raph back just in time. I was suddenly angry at both Raph and myself, causing my eye to twitch. If I hadn't reacted to this guy calling my brother a 'circus freak,' Raph wouldn't have known just how bad it was, even if he didn't know the definition of the words exactly. We turned en masse, and saw several Kraang droids gathered at the far end of the rooftop. Crap!

"Kraang Droids!" Leo cried.

 _Master of the obvious, Leo. Master of the obvious..._

My eye still twitching with fury both at myself and Raph, I drew my weapons as the man uttered something along the lines of "Holy Toledo!"

"Way to blow our position, Raph." Leo grumbled.

"You know, it was partly Ami's fault, as well." Lupa said, and I smacked her over the head. We charged. I was focused on the back three, flipping over the five or so charging at my siblings, and slicing through a few as I landed. I spun, and sliced the last one with my tomahawks, kicking the brains over the roof. I saw more coming up on the fire escape, and I moved to stand at the top. As the droids could only come up one at a time, I was able to slice them to bits as they started up the final ladder. I was panting heavily as I sliced through the final one, and consequently, I almost didn't hear the guy's cry of "Keep going, Kung Fu Frogs! This is pure gold! Oh, and you, too, vixens." I had walked over as he was talking, waving his phone. The Kraang were retreating, so I had no one else to fight.

"Vixens?! Really?!" I muttered, choosing not to appear to get mad about the video he had undoubtedly just taken of that fight. Lupa gave me an inquisitive look. I sighed, as Raph took offense at being called a frog. _There you go again, idiot..._

"We're not frogs, you idiot!" Raph cried.

"Yeah, and it's not Kung Fu. It's an ancient Japanese battle art!" Donnie added angrily.

"Yeah...you can insult _us_ -" Lups said, indicating us with her arm, before getting cut off by Mikey.

"He can?" Lupa glared at him for a second before turning back to the slob.

"-but you do _not_ insult the fighting style!" She finished, and Mikey narrowed his eyes, and nodded, finally getting what she was meaning. Leo, on the other hand, was just about the only one who didn't look mad. He looked highly concerned.

"Guys...he got us on video!" I face-palmed at my own stupidity. If I hadn't gotten wrapped up in defending the fact that I'm not part vixen, I would've remembered to throw a shuriken at that stupid phone. Too late now, as Raph charged the guy. ("Not for long he doesn't!")

"Ha-ha! I'm gonna make a fortune offa this!" The guy said, safe behind the door, after Raph collided with it. Hard. He picked himself up off the floor, eyes swirling and swaying slightly. He was clutching his head, which had been first to hit the metal door, as I sucked in a breath. Aw, crap...with that video in that dude's hand...this was _so_ not gonna end well...

As the man spoke, Raph shook off the swirls, and growled. Then, as if this night hadn't gone badly _enough_ already, we heard sirens approaching fast.

"Fire trucks on route!" Donnie cried, looking frightened. "Thirty seconds!" He added fearfully.

"Let's move." Leo ordered, eyes narrowed. Raph, who had been facing the door, now turned furiously back to us.

"Wait...we have to find that guy, and break his phone!" Raph shouted, even as we left. "And his face!"

"No time, Raph!" I snap over my shoulder, as I flip over the fire escape, catching one of the last few railings, then leaping the rest of the way down, landing near the manhole cover in the alley. Raph was landing beside me a few seconds later.

=#=#=#=

This was one of the _few_ times I was included in the line of cowering mutants facing father's wrath. Usually I am on the sidelines, feeling sorry for them as Splinter raged and lectured. One thing I've learned in fifteen years of living with To-san, is this: If you value your safety, do _not_ face an angry Splinter. Especially if you're a target of his rage. It is not typically healthy for either your pride, or your comfort, as he can assign extra training when angry. And he seemed extra angry at me. After he was through chewing Raph out...I'm really gonna get it, aren't I?

"Not only did Raphael alert the _Kraang_ , but you got _caught_! _On video!"_ Splinter snaps furiously. I flinched. Which made him turn toward me. Then, thankfully, he turned back to Raphael, stalling the inevitable.

"But, _Sensei_! He was the angriest, _nastiest_ guy you ever met." Raph defended. Mikey leaned over from his position beside him.

"Except for you." Mikey said wryly. Raph smacked Mikey, who cried out sharply and returned to his former position.

"You should have _heard_ the insults this guy was throwing at us. They were so..." He paused, tensing up at the thought of the man's taunts. I bit back a groan. It was not a fond memory. " _Insulting_!"

"Oh. I did not realize he said mean things." Splinter said, glaring at Raph from the side. "Of course! You had no choice but to _jeopardize_ _your mission_!" Splinter continued, voice dripping heavily with sarcasm and admonishment.

"Burn." Mikey whispered with an evil grin. Raph just glared at his little brother. I sighed, which again drew my father's attention to me. This time, there was no Raph to distract him. I gulp.

"And you, my daughter, were heedless of the danger the situation brought to your family, and let your emotions guide you. You are the _eldest_ over your siblings! You _cannot_ allow that to happen again!" I bowed my head when Splinter started talking. I just couldn't bring myself to actually look my father in the eyes. I knew that he was absolutely right, but it still stung, seeing that disappointed look in his eyes.

"Hai, Sensei. Sumimasen." (Translaion: I'm sorry.) I said, bowing deeper.

"Shazai ukeire." (Translation: Apology accepted.) Splinter snapped in response, tone harsh enough that I got the feeling he _almost_ didn't. Then I remembered that this was how he acted sometimes when both angry, and scared. And he was both angry at our handling of the situation, and at the same time scared about the consequences of tonight's events. About what could happen with the video of us in that creep's hands. I understood that feeling. I shared it. He started pacing, which made me nervous. This was the part where Splinter dealt out punishments.  
"You all are ninjas. You work in the shadows. In _secret_!" He said, turning around to pace back toward my end of the line. "This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence _in high definition_!" Splinter continued, stressing the fact that we could be watching ourselves fighting Kraang droids on a rooftop on the news. Very soon. I gulped, realizing that we are completely at this man's mercy. Unless we got the phone back before he managed to sell it. Raph apparently had the same idea.

"Look. We know where this guy lives. All we need to do is find him, and shake him 'till the tape pops out."

"Oh, there's no tape. Video phones use flash memory a-" Donnie stopped talking when he saw Raph's death glare, and heard Raph's low growl. Splinter, who had stopped pacing in front of Raph, admonished him.

"Anger is self destructive." Father said tersely. Raph looked sheepishly at the ground.

"I always thought it was others destructive." Raph mutters. I blinked in shock at him.

"Raphael!" Splinter snapped. Raph flinched, eyes wide. I risked a small smirk. Raph had that hole dug six feet deep now. "Stand up." Splinter ordered. Raphael did, looking scared, and like he wanted to shrink down into his shell. I didn't blame him. I would rather be anywhere else but here. Mikey looked over at his brother with an devilish grin.

"Somebody's in trouble." he said in a sing-song voice, causing Raph to glare at his brother with enough heat to set Mikey on fire.

"Dojo. Now!" Splinter ordered, already halfway there. Raph took a few tentative steps toward the dojo. Since Raphael was the last one To-san had been talking to, we all assumed that Splinter was only ordering Raph to haul himself off to face Sensei. " _Iza_! (Translation: _Come_!)" Rang out from the dojo. We all scrambled into the dojo, frantic to avoid as much pain as possible. Splinter was pointing to the bows, so without question, we headed over. Splinter grabbed me and Raph's shoulders. "Not you two. You will remain here." He said. I nodded, as the boys reached for quivers. "Not those! Use the training arrows." Splinter admonished, to several frantic cries of "Hai, Sensei" from my siblings. They grabbed quivers of practice, suction-cup tipped arrows, and came back to Splinter's side, for further instructions. Soon, Splinter motioned Raph forward. I automatically moved forward, resigned to my fate, as well. But Splinter's hand remained on my shoulder. "Stay." He said, and I resumed my place at his side, as Leo and the others tested the bowstrings, although they knew that the strings were just as fine as when Splinter first got them.

"Surround Raphael." Splinter said. No one said a thing, though I was getting more and more nervous as this played out. None the less, within a minute, all cardinal points around Raph were occupied by a mutant with a bow, a quiver full of arrows, and an evil grin. Raph stood, unfazed, in the center. He glanced back at Splinter for further instructions.

"Evade the arrows." Splinter said, voice even and face almost stony.

"No problem." Raph smirked. I didn't. There was more to this exercise than what father was letting on. Why else would Splinter have my siblings surround Raph, and fire at him? Then, it hit me.

They were going to insult Raph at some point in the very near future, while dodging arrows. With his personality, it would only be a matter of time 'till he exploded.

"Hajime!" Splinter snapped. Mikey was the first one to fire, then Lupa right after. Followed closely by Leo, then Donnie. None of the arrows hit Raph, but I caught one inches from my face. I narrowed my eyes. Another nearly hit Splinter, who caught it without so much as moving his eyes. "Yame!" He called, as Raph turned to face father with his sai crossed over his chest. An automatic, ingrained response when challenged. "Again. " He ordered crisply, "Except this time, Lupa, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo..." He paused and flipped the arrow so that the suction cup tip was facing the circle of mutants. "Insult Raphael." I groaned and shut my eyes. This wasn't gonna be pretty. Everyone flinched.

"W-wait..." Donnie stuttered timidly, pointing the arrow he had been about to fire at the now confused figure of Raph. "Insult... _him_?"

"Yes." Splinter confirmed, pheromones betraying the _very_ slight amusement he felt, even if _nothing_ else did.

"And he can't fight back?" Donnie asked.

"No." Splinter again confirmed, to which Raph raised an eye-ridge. Donnie chuckled with relief.

"I'm feeling pretty good about this plan." Donnie noted wryly.

"Hajime!" Splinter called. Mikey and Lupa chuckled evilly, a slightly maniacal edge to their laughter. I could tell they were looking forward to this.

"You move like a bloated buffalo!" Mikey cried.

"Or a slug through syrup!" Lupa chirped. Raph flipped up to get back on his feet from the crouch he had been in.

"I do _not_!" Raph cried, hands up and feet apart in a defensive stance.

"Yeah...you do." Lupa said.

"And you're always whining." Leo chuckled. "'Poor me. Nobody understands me.'" Leo added in a whiny voice, already readying another arrow, firing it easily. Everyone laughed, and agreed in one way or another.

"Well, you _don't_ understa-AH!" Raph defended, but was cut off by yet another arrow. I began to see what Sensei was trying to teach. When it was just arrows, no insults, Raph was easily able to dodge the arrows. But when insults were added, Raph wasn't able to dodge nearly as many. I sighed, getting the feeling that father was also teaching _me_ this lesson. I _should_ have already mastered this, but obviously not. That guy was able to get through to me, using language that shouldn't have even given me pause. But when he used it on my _brother_ , I simply lost it. I'm not sure if Splinter knows that, but I _am_ sure it wouldn't make a difference. I am still responsible for my actions. Even if I was taking someone else's offense.

"And...uh..." Donnie started, searching for a good insult. "oh! You don't keep your back straight when doing omota gota giatu!" He cried, firing an arrow in synch with Lupa, which was one of the few Raph was able to dodge. Lupa's wasn't. I smirked and rolled my eyes. Don needs to take classes from Leo, Mikey, and Lupa on insulting people. "And you're ugly!" Donnie amended.

"And gassy!" Mikey chirped.

"You burp a lot!" Lupa added.

"Haha! Bullseye!" Don cried, as everyone laughed, and Raph looked like he wanted to smash something. I was starting to pity Raph, but knew the lesson wouldn't stop until Splinter wanted it to stop. I only prayed that it was sooner, rather than later.

" _Stopit_!" Raph shouted.

"Oh, you act so tough, but inside you're just a scared little baby." Leo taunted, firing an arrow.

"Who cries a lot!" Lupa laughed. Another arrow hit Raph's shell. "Deh widdle babeh...poor widdle guy..."

"And who needs his bottle!" Donnie added. Another arrow thudded into his brother's shell.

"And his diaper changed." Mikey fired an arrow. Another hit. I had to bit my lip, and lower my eyes to avoid getting angry. This was getting a little harsh.

"Aww, what's the matter, Raph? Gonna cry?" Leo said, voice mockingly sympathetic. Another arrow hit.

"Yeah...you little crybaby!" Lupa cried, and yet another arrow hit.

"I." Raph cried, as everyone laughed. An arrow hit him on the left side of his face. "Am." the other side was hit. " _Not_...gonna _cry_!" Raph finished, as the final arrow hit Raph's forehead. He collapsed. Mikey sighs contentedly.

"I wish this moment could last forever."

"Yeah...me, too." Lupa agreed. Raph stood suddenly.

"You know what?" Raph cried, throwing his sai to the floor angrily. "Forget this. This is _stupid_!" Mikey slumped heavily.

"Awww. It didn't."

"Did you expect it to, Mikey?" I mumbled before I could stop myself, unable to resist, and Splinter shot me a look. I flinched and looked down at the ground, my mouth shut again. Raph spun on his heel, startling Mikey and Lupa, as he walked over to Splinter, who had motioned for him.

"Ninniku seishen is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility." Splinter said sternly, and Raph suddenly didn't look angry. He just looked a little scared. The arrow on the forehead had fallen off, but the ones to either side of his head remained there. It looked funny, but I knew better than to laugh. "You cannot be a _true_ ninja until you master it." Splinter went on, glancing at me as well as Raph. I shrunk as far as I could into the floor. There was that disappointment again...The final two arrows came off, causing Mikey to chuckle, and Lupa to strain to hold her's in.

"He looks so funny.." I barely heard Lupa whisper to Mikey, but I knew Raph had heard. Raph shook a fist toward them.

"Understood?" Splinter snapped. Raph instantly withdrew the fist.

"Hai, Sensei." He said resignedly.

"Asami?" Splinter asked, glaring down at me. I stood and bowed slightly.

"Hai, Sensei." I said, straightening up. I leaned against the tree.

"You _must_ get that video back." Splinter reminded us. "Using _reason,_ not _force_." Splinter went on. I moved to join my brothers as they exited the dojo. However, one look from father had me scurrying back to his side.

"To-san?" I asked, head tilted in confusion.

"You will remain here, and maintain the weapons." Splinter instructed. I blinked.

"All of them?" I asked, jaw slack, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. _Every_ one. You, too, need punishment. I chose not to let you join Raphael in the exercise because it would not have much effect, if any, on you." Splinter explained. I sighed. I should have known that I wouldn't have gotten away with just public humiliation. Splinter is _never_ that gentle. Well, _rarely_ ever.

"I understand that the insult that resulted in your loss of control was directed at Raphael. Correct?"

"Hai, Sensei." I replied. Splinter stroked his beard thoughtfully. "He called Raph a circus freak."

"Naze anata wa sore ga anata shutoku sa seta nodesu ka? (Translation: Why did you let it get to you?)" Splinter asked. I groaned softly. This was another part of the punishment. I had to talk in Japanese. Splinter wanted to keep my knowledge of my homeland's language sharp.

"Watashiniha wakaranai, Oto-san.(Translation: I don't know, dad.)" I replied. Splinter nodded in thought. I went and fetched a rag, and a bucket. Within five minutes, I was sitting in the corner, scrubbing weapons down, and drying them thoroughly. I grumbled to myself in Japanese as I did so, worrying about what Raph would do when the man didn't give my siblings the video. It wouldn't be pretty. I could just picture Raph's tense posture, terse words, and awkward pauses. Leo would nudge Raph in order to get him to apologize. It would end up just an awkward mess. Still grumbling, with the occasional sigh thrown in there, I continued cleaning, then oiling all the staffs, knives, and swords that my family owned. My hands had never felt that dried out or abused, but at last I was done. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to continue talking in Japanese for much longer. Not because I didn't like Japanese, it's just I hate I when Splinter uses it as a punishment. I stifle a yawn. It must be getting late...

Just then, I head depressed, dragging, yet somehow stomping footsteps entering the Lair. They headed toward the hallway. Expecting Leo and the others, I walked out...to find only Raph, trudging toward the kitchen with an angry, yet somehow depressed air about him. He had Spike on his shoulder as he walked in, and placed the little turtle onto the counter, along with a leaf of lettuce on a plate. I stayed in the doorway to the kitchen, out of sight, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Who does Leo think he is?" Raph growled. "So what if I got a temper? I'm still the best fighter we got." He boasted. I frowned. He really thought he was better than me? "Well...I guess besides Ami. But still..." He amended, and I shook my head, biting back a sigh. That boy had some kinda pride issues. "In fact...if anything, my anger makes me a better fighter!" Raph cried. He had been pacing in front of the counter, but now he took a seat at a barstool. Then, Splinter appeared beside me. He walked into the kitchen, as Raph asked Spike if he understood him with a small smile. "Chew on your leaf if you understand me." Raph ordered, and Spike did, though I doubt it was because Spike actually understood a word Raph said.

"Yeah...I thought so." Raph said. His cute little smile promptly vanished when Splinter entered.

"I understand you, too." Splinter said. Raph flinched, startled, before resuming his regular expression a second later.

" _Seriously_?! You gotta knock or something." Raph snapped at me as I walked in and stood near the door. Raph scowled at me for a second, probably wandering how much I had heard.

"Raphael, let me tell you a story." Splinter said, with a look on his face that should have had Raph saying 'Hai, Sensei.' as fast as possible. However, Raph merely got a look that said ' _please_ no.'

"Sensei...I'm not really in the mood for a story." Raph said politely, but when Sensei's look didn't change, I suspected dad would tell the story anyway.

"Spike, chew on your leaf if you're in the mood for a story." Splinter commanded, gazing down at the small turtle, who innocently bit off another chunk of his leaf. Raph gave Spike a look like "You traitor!" I nearly busted a gut trying to hold my laughter in.

"Very well." Splinter said. "When I was a young man, I fell in love with a woman." Splinter started. Raph slumped forward into the counter before perking back up.

"Oh...Hey...is it _that_ late?" Raph said,eyes hopeful, raising slightly from his chair, and checking a watch that wasn't on his wrist.

"Sit." Splinter ordered, nodding toward the chair, seeing right through that excuse. I laughed out loud for a few seconds before getting it back under control. Raph's expression had been too funny. Raph groaned, but sat back down as Splinter got his 'storytelling' face on. "Her name was Tang Shen, and I was not the only one who loved her." He said, and I could just see the two of them, hanging out somewhere in Japan, smiling at each other. "There was another man competing for her attention. Oruko Saki." Splinter said ominously. I personally had heard this story many times, and it _still_ got me angry.

"Shredder." Raph noted. Splinter nodded, but didn't stop completely.

"One day, he insulted me in front of her. He called me many things. I felt I could not let those insults go unanswered. So I struck him down." Splinter said, head bowed slightly, in shame over his actions. "Over time, our rivalry festered into hatred. Until Shredder sought to finish me. And I lost my beloved Tang Shen." Splinter continued sadly. This was the part where the anger melted into sadness. Raph mulled over his father's words for a moment, weighing what Sensei had said.

"But...but i-it w-wasn't your fault." Raph defended. "Shredder insulted you. You had no choice." Splinter had turned back toward me at some point during the course of the story, and when Raph said 'no choice' his eyes snapped open.

"'No choice'?!" he repeated, eyes angry. I gulped. Poor Raphael was in for it now..."I could have _chosen_ to ignore him. I could have _chosen_ to let his words wash over me, like a river over a stone." Splinter said, placing special stress on 'chosen', his head bowed slightly and eyes closed. "But I _let_ him anger me." Then, he opened his eyes. "It was _I_ who made his words into weapons." Splinter admonished himself. I sighed. Dad still beat himself up about that. That's why he taught us to maintain control over our emotions from a relatively young age. So that we wouldn't make the same mistakes he had. Splinter walked over to Raph, eyes closed. He opened them again when he got to Raph. "That is the choice _I_ made." He said, putting his hand on his son's shoulder. "What choice will _you_ make?" Raph looked slightly guilty, yet pensive. Splinter left the kitchen, and I followed him, not sure where I was going. A few moments later, I found Raph walking toward his room sullenly.

"Ne(Translation: Hey), Raph." I call, and he freezes.

"Hey, Ami. I'm not in the mood for...anything right now..." He said. Something in his voice made me curious to find out what happened out there. Raph wasn't feeling this guilty over some small mistake. There was something more to this.

"Nani ga okotta?(Translation: What happened?)" I asked, leaning against the doorpost to the dojo, which lay a short distance from Raph's bedroom door. He sighed, and slumped his shoulders. If he even noticed I was speaking Japanese, he didn't make a comment on it. Yet.

"I screwed up. _Again_!" He seethed, gripping his hands into fists. He tensed up, head down and face to the side. Instantly, I was hugging him, despite his tense, angry posture.

"Raph...Sore wa daijiobodesu(Translation: It's okay)..."

"No, it's _not_!" Raph growled in my ear. He had now awkwardly wrapped his arms around my waist, and I tightened my arms. "I could have gotten everyone hurt! Why am I like this?" He suddenly asked, further deepening the hug. I closed my eyes, and shushed my brother, as he sagged slightly into my embrace.

"You are exactly who you're supposed to be, Raph." I told him, forgetting to speak Japanese for a moment.

"Really? I'm _supposed_ to be a raging, out of control monster?" He asked.

"What happened that gave that horrid image of yourself?" I asked, now more curious than ever. Raph just shrugged before resuming his hold on my waist.

"I jes...got angry at that stupid guy, an' then I went to yell at him, rather than help the guys. I was an idiot, and my family nearly paid for it! My own _family_ , and I deliberately put them in danger!" He said, now clutching at my middle back, face pressed against my shoulder. His legs seemed to give out, and I found myself sitting on the ground, arms around Raph's shell. This was depressing.

"Then?" I whispered, forgetting Splinter's punishment in my eagerness to help my brother.

"Then...Leo sent me home." Raph whispered, sounding like he was close to crying. Then, he stood, dragging me up with him. He heaved a sigh. "Thanks, Ane. (Translation: Big sister.)" He said, and moved toward the kitchen.

"Le mondai, ototan.(Translation: No problem, little brother.)" I replied, suddenly remembering my punishment. Raph smirked.

"Seems I wasn't the only one punished today." He said wryly. I smiled back.

"Damare. (Translation: Shut up.)" I growled playfully. Splinter was suddenly at the head of the hallway, smirking.

"That is enough Japanese, Asami. Well done." He said, and left as quickly as he had come. I sighed.

"Thank the _Lord_!" I muttered in English. Then I turned to Raph. "So...where ya headed?" I asked, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. Raph smirked.

"Where do ya _think_?" I smirked, as well.

"Then let's get going!" I said, already heading out. Raph caught up to me before I had even made it out of the Lair. Before either of us knew it, we were back to where Raph said he had been sent home. I easily saw, and smelt, the gasoline trail, heading off down the street. Then, Raph gripped my shoulder, halting me as I moved to follow the trail.

"Ami...why am I so angry all the time?" He asked, looking slightly sad. I gazed back into his neon green eyes, and found myself gripping both of his shoulders.

"You are how God made you, Raphael." I said. Raph just stared back at me.

"Then why is Splinter trying to change me if I'm supposed to be angry like this?" He asked.

Splinter told us the creation story when we were small, and although we followed a few of the Japanese ninja traditions of meditation, and use of the astral plane, etc, we still read the bible, and had a short discussion on it before morning practice, and prayed before every meal. We even took an extra long discussion time on Sundays, and skipped practice.

"Raph...anger itself isn't necessarily bad. It's when it controls you, blinds you, that it is evil. That is why Splinter wants to help you curb your anger. He knows you can't get rid of it completely, but he wants to help you get it under control, and keep it that way." I replied after a moment's thought. He gazed at the ground, shuffling his feet. I moved to follow the trail and he followed.

"Ami?"

"Yeah, Raph?"

"...I'm glad you had to stay." He murmured after a moment. We were getting ever closer to the end of the trail, and we had to be prepared for whatever was in there. I turned, and smiled back at him.

"Me, too, Ototo." I said, and returned to following the trail. We closed in on the warehouse the trail led to, and entered via the roof. There were deactivated Kraang droids, laying around everywhere. No sign of either that stupid guy, or my siblings. Then, I heard grunting, crashing, and some kinda spitting noise, coming from below a hole in the ground.

"Playtime's over, _freaks_!" A deep, rumbling voice growled. I gulped.

 _That voice...it sounded like a weird version of that idiot from the roof's voice...and I don't like the tone he's taking._

I thought, motioning Raph forward. I pointed to Raph, then down the hole, and Raph gazed back at me, confused. I rolled my eyes.

" _You_ should take him down." I whispered. Raph blinked.

"You really think that's a good idea?" He whispered back. I nodded.

"Remember what Sensei and I said, and you'll be fine. I'm right here to help if you need it, too." I said, and Raph took a deep breath before jumping silently down onto a huge container of that weird glowing mutagen, in synch with myself. Although I landed in such a position that I was invisible to the mutants below. I wanted to see how they reacted, and how Raph dealt with this guy.

" _Wow_." Raph called loudly. "I didn't think this guy could _get_ any uglier." Raph said, and flipped simply down, landing in a crouch, sai out. He glared at the now hideous mutant before him. It was difficult to describe him, or tell what animal he had last touched. His body was one big ball, he had short black and red patterned fur-like stuff covering his body. He had four arm-like appendages coming off the top off his head. His eyes were now large and black with red pupils. All in all, Raph was right. It was somehow possible that 'this guy could get any uglier.'

"Raph!" Mikey cried gleefully. Lupa was beaming like the moon, as well as everyone in my family.

"I think you've been punished enough." Leo decided, smirking wryly, as if he had any say in the matter. "Come and join us!" The spider-thing smirked, as well.

"Hey, hey." He taunted, posture smug. "It's the Kung-Fu Froggie with the salad tongs!" I gulped, hoping Raph wouldn't lose it again. He didn't need my help at the moment, though, so I stayed where I was. Raph's expression was as blank as a clean slate as he coolly twirled his sai.

"Hey, it's the stupid loudmouth who's about to get his butt kicked." Raph replied., standing in a classic defensive stance, weapons held in readiness. Suddenly, the large mutant spat out a wad of yellow goo. Raph didn't risk finding out what it did, preferring to dodge around it. It made the floor under it fizzle and melt. I scowl.

 _Acid? Really?! Ugh. How come all these mew mutants get to do things like grow entire limbs back, and spit acid at us? No fair!_

I complained inwardly as the spider-thing spat out more acid in a ring around my siblings, who could only watch in growing horror as they were sent through the floor, crashing down onto the next floor down. Without pausing to think, I leapt down, and landed near my other siblings.

"Y'all okay?" I asked, as Donnie moaned about how they shouldn't fall through this floor. Lupa had been on the bottom, and she was still laying there, gasping. I helped her up, and she beamed at me, encasing my body in a tight hug.

"Good to see you, too, Lupa!" I chirped, smiling back at her. She let me go, and we looked around for any way to easily get outta here.

"Am I glad to see you and Raph, Ami. This guy is _fast_!" Lupa said, "Like, a lot faster than he had been as a human, and...ugh. He can spit acid! How fair is that?!" she continued, arms waving dramatically. Hardly a minute later...there came Spider-Bites, as Mikey and Lupa told me they had dubbed him. He was letting out a long, somehow sticky, string of acid, and then Raph was swinging, as well, slicing through the acid like it was a rope. The pair crashed to the ground, Raph pushing the giant arachnid further into the fragile floor. He flipped off, and Spider-Bites stood, and roared. They stood, facing each other, tense postures looking awesome. Well, only Raph really looked awesome, to be honest. Spider-Bites really doesn't fit the picture of a warrior.

"Aww, froggie thinks he can stop me. Rib-bit, rib-bit." The mutnat taunted, and Raph took a deep breath, knuckled turning white on his sai handles. Lupa started forward, but I put a restraining hand on my sister's shoulder. I shook my head. Leo did the same, noting my serious face as I watched the battle. "What's that, tad-pole?" the spider continued, arrogant smirk now even more hideous than when he had been human. "Too afraid to hop off your lily-pad and get the warts knocked offa ya?" _Oh, this guy was_ _ **good**_ _._ I thought, hands itching again toward my tomahawk handles.

"Kore wa nanimo imi shinai. (This means nothing.)" I whispered in a chant. It helps me focus when I feel overwhelmed. Besides, Raph wasn't in imminent danger, so I didn't need to rush forward. Raph took another deep breath and closed his eyes as the giant spider spoke. I saw my brother mouthing something that looked suspiciously like Master's Splinter's analogy about dealing with anger: Like a river, over stone. He opened his eyes with a confident smirk, and charged. Dodging around the long arms on top of the spider's head with a yell, Raph kicked and punched the mutant backwards. Spider-Bites simply growled, and extended his new arms. Raph caught it on his sai, and spun it to catch the acid that followed the arms. Spider-Bites cried out to in pain, drawing his arm back to inspect it. Not surprisingly, there was hardly any damage.

"That's some Kung-Fu, frog!" He noted with an under-laying growl. That's when I let Lupa go. We gathered behind Raph, and stood ready, weapons gripped tightly.

"We're _not_ 'Kung-Fu Frogs.'" Raph replied, sai pointed at the spider with a smirk.

"Or Vixens!" Lupa added quickly. Raph didn't seem to notice. He drew the Sai back to himself, and shook it from side to side, as he continued.

"We're Ninja Turtles! And wolves." Raph finished, and we charged. Me and Leo held off the arms, as Lupa and Mikey slid down them on their nun-chucks, getting a few hits. Raph and Don leapt into the air, as I did, too, and we smashed the ugly mutant into the ground. In the fighting, the accursed phone landed on the ground. It lay a few feet out of Spider-Bites' reach, where Raph stomped on it with a heavy foot.

"Ah!" the spider cried. "My phone!" we walked a little closer, ready to continue fighting. Spider-Bites seemed to realize exactly what he was up against, and scowled angrily. "You guys are gonna regret this!" He exclaimed, before beating a hasty retreat, using his new arms to hoist himself up, and creep along the rin of the mutagen container, hopping along before leaping out the window, with us in hot pursuit. By the time we caught up, however, he was long gone.

 _Hopefully he has the common sense to stay out of sight. I mean, if he doesn't...he's not a huge threat, but still..._ I thought, as Don quipped about a black widow he knew that would be great for Spider-Bites. I caught Leo's gaze, and motioned for him to go talk to Raph. He walked over, with a small smile.

"Good work, Raph." He praised. He still had the smirk, though, so I knew he wasn't done yet. "I just...wanted to say..." He continued. Raph held up a hand to halt his brother.

"Yeh don't havta apologize." Raph said, with an equal smirk. Leo's smirk deepened into a full blown smile. _Uh-oh._ "I wasn't going to." Leo chuckled.

"Oh." Raph said awkwardly. "Good." He said, looking at the floor, blushing ever so slightly. Mikey appeared right behind Raph, smiling devilishly.

"Yeah, Raph." He chuckled. "Not bad for a bloated buffalo." He added, nearly cracking up. For a second, it looked like Mikey was in for it, but then Raph simply smirked, and tackled his little brother, restraining him in a headlock. Lupa gasped, and tried to help Mikey out, but she was no match for Raph's stronger arms.

"Let 'im go!" She cried, tugging on the arm, to no avail.

"It's okay, Lups!" Mikey cried, eyes squeezed shut. "Raphael is all wise and powerful!" He cried, knowing that that's what Raph wanted to hear. I leaned against Leo's shoulder. Mikey was flapping his arms wildly in an attempt to regain his whacked balance.

"And?" Raph asked, playfully growling with a large smile on his face.

"And he's better than me in every possible way!" Mikey continued, still flailing his arms. I laughed for a good minute or two. Then went over, and tapped Raph's shoulder.

"Let go, Raph. He gets the idea." I laughed, and we returned home, with a light spring to our step. Even though we screw up sometimes, we'll always have each other's backs. We were a kazuko (family), an ichizoku (clan), after all. Nothing would ever change that.

 **AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE STUPID, CORNY AND CLICHE ENDING. AUTHOR SINCERELY REGRETS IT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO COME UP WITH ANYTHING BETTER.**

 **SORRY! ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOYED!**


	7. BS: Meeting Master Splinter

**HERE IS A KIND OF BONUS CHAPTER, IN WHICH I WILL TRY TO WRITE THE CHARACTERS IN AN ORIGINAL SITUATION. I MUST ADMIT, I KINDA WANTED TO SEE THIS SCENE IN THE 2012 VERSION, AFTER THE GEM OF THE 2003 INTRODUCTION OF APRIL TO MASTER SPLINTER. I HOPE I DON'T SCREW THIS UP AND MAKE IT UNREALISTIC. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY!**

 **GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!**

 **~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER**

"Are...are you...sure about this?" Donnie asked. April chuckled and shrugged.

"Yeah. It's been, what, a week since I met you guys?"

"Five days, actually." Donnie corrected automatically. Then blushed. "Bu-but you were close, so...uh..." I rolled my eyes, feeling a bit like a third wheel. It was only by Leo's insistence that I was here at all. He didn't want us going off alone, especially with Spider-bites running around and those Kraang droids creeping over the city. "Sh-shall we?" He asked, offering the girl his arm politely. April blinked, but took it after a second's hesitation. April may not have noticed the blush exploding all over Don's face, but I did with a smile. He was too cute around her. And she was completely oblivious. I led the pair toward a nearby alleyway with a manhole cover, and soon enough we descended. I saw April wrinkle her nose, but she had the decency not to comment on it. "You'll get used to it." Donnie assured her absently with a small smile. April blinked.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." Don waved his hands hurriedly, stopping our progress down the tunnel to reassure our friend.

"No, no! You weren't rude. In fact, I bet you're pretty polite compared to most humans..." He trailed off when it became obvious April was about to burst out laughing.

"Don, you know...you don't need to tiptoe around me. It's fine." He just shrugs and leads us down the tunnel. I had to slip my mask over April's eyes, and it acted like a blindfold. This way, she couldn't tell anyone where exactly we lived. It was the only way Dad agreed to us bringing her down to the Lair.

"Don's...not used to talking to humans. I guess he's just worried he's gonna...I dunno...scare you off or something." I whisper, low enough that only April could hear. She nods.

"That makes sense." Soon enough, we arrive at our humble abode and I slip the mask off, putting it back on in seconds. As we round the corner, she gapes at the scene before her. Although the Lair isn't anything like a human home, it's _our_ home, and we intend to keep it that way. "No way! This place is...wow. Is this...a subway station of some kind?" I laugh. April is beaming as she tales our home in, climbing easily over the turnstiles.

"Yeah. Okay, now to business." I say seriously. April catches my eyes, and sobers up in seconds. "A few things to know before you meet Dad. (1) He's a rat." April paled, but nodded after a minute, a subtle shiver racing down her spine. "(2) He's...not easily trusting. So, just give him no reasons to think you're against us, and we're good. (3) 'Master Splinter' might be the best way to address him and (4) 'Hai, Sensei' is the most respectful way to answer 'yes' to a question. It means 'Yes, teacher' in Japanese, our second language and his first." April blinks, my words sinking in.

"...So...you're dad is...an untrusting Japanese rat?" I smile.

"Yeah. You got it! Just be respectful and we won't have a problem." I lead her to the dojo, where Splinter is waiting with tea already brewed. "Sensei, I'd like you to meet April O'Neil. April O'Neil, meet Hamato Yoshi, Sensei of the Hamato clan and my father." He nods, bowing his head slightly in greeting even as his eyes weigh April up, scanning her and assessing her. His eyes only appear wary, if not hostile, to someone who has known Splinter as long as I have. April only sees a welcoming gaze, gulps, paling and obviously fighting an impulse to scream and run.

"Pl-pleasure, sir—er, Sensei?" The last word is phrased like a question, her wild eyes on me. I smile and give her a thumbs up and a wink. She looks a little reassured as she then returns her gaze to Sensei.

"Come, my friend. Please, sit. I do not bite." April swallows thickly, but does as she's told, the smallest of smiles pulling at her lips. She takes the offered cup of tea, but predictably doesn't drink it due to her increasing anxiety. "My children have told me a little about yourself and how you came to meet them, but I wish to hear what happened according to you, April." She chews her lips, finally sipping the tea, as if to stall for time before she's forced to answer.

"Uh...well, My dad and I were out for a walk—like usual this time of year—when we were suddenly surrounded by these weird guys that literally all looked the same. We didn't know what they wanted, but before Dad could do anything, they had him unconscious and nearly in the van. Then...your...children intervened. They tried to help, but...uh..." She gulps.

"We already got a lecture. He knows we screwed that up royally first try." I inform her. She looks lost and afraid, and I need to show her to just relax around dad, or this won't end well.

"Right. Well...we were taken to a...base, I guess it was. After about three hours, give or take, we heard a commotion outside our cell." From there, she launched into a detailed account of our rescue, describing how, though we didn't really have a plan, we managed just fine. I was grateful that she portrayed us favorably, but she didn't need to defend us. We'd gotten a 'well done' that night. No biggie. "And...that's pretty much it, Master Splinter." She finishes. Dad nods, eyes still wary, but not as hostile as before, no matter how carefully he hid it.

"And you wish to aid my children in their fight against the Kraang?" April nods, a sudden determination filling her.

"Hai, Sensei." Splinter seems impressed she knows that phrase, and I give him a smile to let him know I had taught it to her. After all, Dad deserved the utmost respect. He gives the tiniest of nods in acknowledgement. "This...family may be weird, but the others are going to need someone willing and able to help them out with things they can't do on their own, like snooping around in the daytime, or whatever else they need." She adds. Splinter nods slowly.

"If my children were unable to retrieve your father, would you still be this willing to help them?" Was his next question. I hum. That's a very good question. April takes a minute or two to think.

"I'd like to think so, but would rather it not come to that. You have amazing children, and I'd place my trust in them any day, but understand nothing's...nothing's guaranteed." I smile. That was a good answer. It didn't promise something she may not be able to deliver, while allowing for mistakes, but not putting a ton of pressure on us at the same time. She's a pretty cool young lady, in my book.

But it's not _my_ book April has to worry about. Dad takes her answer in thoughtfully. Then, he gives her a small smile.

"I am very honored to hear that, April." Is his reply. I fist bump the air.

"So does that mean she can come over more often?" Comes Donnie's voice from the entrance to the dojo. Master Splinter frowns at him.

"Donatello, have I not told you I was not to be disturbed?" Don pales, and makes a hasty retreat, calling 'Sorry, Sensei!' over his shoulder as he does so. April chuckles. "Welcome to our home, Ms. O'Neil." Dad says, bowing slightly to our friend. I gestured for her to do the same.

"Th-thank you, Master Splinter."

"Now, come on, April!" I cheer. "I gotta give you the nickel tour of the Lair!"


End file.
